As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Coming back from the Realm Makers conference I let my mind get overwhelmed with all the information I heard, all the available recorded information I’ve yet to listen to, and all my mundane To Do list things that needed To Do-ing. So I retreated to my faithful hot tub to seek the Lord for instruction.

The verse from Mathew is the one He brought to mind. I may not be swayed by the deceitfulness of riches, but I’ll honestly admit to the cares of this world being able to choke out the word in my mind.

There are sneaky bits. The bits of things I’m doing for God, like following the path he set before me. Not everything is bad. But is it causing clutter and confusion?

I thought about my seeds growing in my new greenhouse. When you plant seeds, you plant more than one to a pot, knowing some may not grow. Then if you get more than one growing, you thin it down to just one seedling. It may be an easy choice with one growing better than the other, but sometimes you take away a perfectly healthy seedling to allow the remaining one room to grow.

Look at Jesus’ response to Martha‘s choice.

But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭41‬-‭42‬ ‭AMP

Martha was allowing the many things she was doing for Jesus to cause her to become worried, bothered, and anxious. Her busyness kept her from spending time with Jesus.

This reminded me of family get-togethers where my husband was in the kitchen getting all the food ready (he’s the cook in the family). He missed out on being able to sit and visit with the kids and grandkids. The stress of fretting over the food became exhausting to the point we reconsidered how we approached holidays. We began including the kids more by having them bring dishes and having them help with serving and clean up. Holidays became more about family time and less about providing everything.

That makes me think I need to pare down and simplify my life, but I don’t think that’s the answer. Life is not simple. We all have To Do lists and things we want to learn. And I don’t think it’s about balance either. Life is not balanced. Life is messy and unpredictable. It doesn’t sit nicely on a shelf. It doesn’t follow all the rules.

So how do we live?

This final verse came to me, wrapping my thoughts with a prayer.

The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The one thing we get to choose is spending time with God. The cool thing is—He is always with us. It’s just a matter of turning our thoughts to Him long enough to establish our side of the connection. Everything else will fall into place when we give God the pride of place in our lives.

Grace & Peace,

Sandy

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