“She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” Luke 10:39
Yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to join a body of believers in their Sunday morning worship. Tears filled my eyes as passion grew in the voices that joined together in the singing of Cody Carnes song, Nothing Else.
“I’m caught up in Your presence
I just want to sit here at Your feet
I’m caught up in this holy moment
I never wanna leave
Oh, I’m not here for blessings
Jesus, You don’t owe me anything
More than anything that You can do
I just want You
I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do
I just want You
Nothing else, nothing else
Nothing else will do”
I want to encourage you to set aside six minutes and thirty three seconds to listen to this song today. Find it on whatever platform best suits you, press play, close your eyes, and just focus in on the truth of the lyrics.
I don’t know what you’re going through today. I don’t know what battles you are facing, which hills you have topped, what lies behind you, or what is coming your way, but what I do know is the incomparable, incomprehensible power of the presence of the Lord. It is just simply overwhelming and it is a space that once experienced, you will never want to leave.
As the words of this song continued to play through my mind yesterday, the story of Mary and Martha came to mind. In Luke chapter 10, we are told that Jesus went to their house and that while Martha was distracted by preparing to serve Jesus and His guests, Mary simply sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to Him. When Martha voiced her frustration in her sister’s lack of help to Jesus, he replied, “Martha, Martha. You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I have heard many sermons built off of this brief interaction, I have read an entire book expanded upon this one event, and I have been posed with the question, “Are you a Mary or a Martha?” multiple times throughout my walk of faith thus far, but yesterday, it hit me differently. Yesterday, I more greatly recognized the heart of Mary; the heart that chose what is better, that which is needed. Yesterday, I resonated with Mary and I desired to more greatly be a Mary, not only taking advantage of my opportunities to sit at the feet of the Lord, but soaking in those moments. I envision Mary as completely mesmerized by the presence of the Lord, and I want that. I want it today, and tomorrow, and in every day to come.
I remember back to a few years ago when the Lord took a nobody; a twenty-three year old spiritually immature, and ill-equipped nobody in the eyes of the world and placed her perfectly in His doings according to His will. He surrounded her with a community and a support system that saw more in her than she saw in herself. He so evidently equipped her for exactly that which He had prepared for her and He led her to the very spot that He had planned out for her long before she was even a thought in this world. He guided her in writing devotionals and sending out prayer emails. He gave her confidence to lead a group of which she was the youngest to a country other than her own. He covered every step in His protection and His provision paved the way. As she watched her team pull away at the end of the week through the wallows of tears in her eyes, the only words she could gather her breath to say were, “It just went so well.” That nobody was me.
But you see, as I watched all of these things fall into place, as I watched pieces of my journey begin to make sense and details of the present play a role in the current day, I began to become more enamored by the work of the Lord, than I was by the Lord himself. It was at that time that Jesus’ interaction with Peter from John 21 was presented to me in a whole new way. This scene took place just after Jesus had instructed the fishermen to simply cast their net on the opposite side of the boat after a long night of zero luck with the fish. Probably figuring that it couldn’t hurt and in obedience to His instruction, the fishermen casted the net to the other side of the boat where it became so full that they were unable to haul it into the boat. After breakfast on the beach, Jesus asked Peter the same question three consecutive times, “Do you love me more than these?”
Jesus was not asking Peter if his love for the Lord was greater than his love for the 153 fish in the net, or even the act of fishing in general, as that would’ve been much easier an answer to come by. Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than he loved the miracle that he had just witnessed, or being a part of the work that had just been performed by the Lord.
I want you to ask yourself today, do you love the Lord more than the works that He has perfectly orchestrated you to be a part of?
At the time in which this question had been posed to me, I was beginning to get lost in the works. I was loving serving the communities in Costa Rica. I was loving the relationships that were being built and the doors that were being opened. I was so greatly enjoying being a witness to the hearts that were changing within the members of our team and those that we had been given the opportunity to reach. But I was beginning to love being amidst those things more than I was falling more greatly in love with the Lord, the Director of all these things.
Fast forward to the past month. The Lord took that same nobody, and once again placed her perfectly in the midst of His doings, but this time, as a member of the Samaritan’s Purse disaster response team that was deployed to Jackson, Mississippi. Day after day I was overwhelmed by the goodness of God in more greatly recognizing the way that He had continued to prepare me over the past few years, for what felt like these exact moments in time. I was loving being a witness to the unquestionable presence of the Lord within the wards. I was amazed by what it felt like to be fully immersed in the body of Christ. I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the work that the Lord was doing through His hands and feet.
BUT then, on Sunday, with the disaster deployment having come to a close, I soaked in these words as they were sung.
"I'm caught up in Your presence I just want to sit here at Your feet. I'm caught up in this holy moment, I never wanna leave."
Why the immediate tears? Though part of me wants to blame these emotions that have decided to begin making an external appearance over the past few years, the truth is that I was yet again overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Yes, I was loving being in the midst of His doings over the past month, and I have never felt more perfectly placed and prepared, but as these words were sung, I realized how true they were to me. I realized that the Lord had immensely grown my heart for Him, and Him alone over the past three years. I realized that no matter what He would have me to be a part of or what He doesn’t lead me to be a part of, no matter the results I see or the heart changes I witness, I will crumble at the opportunity to sit at His feet and listen. I am caught up in His presence and I never want to leave.
I know that there is still work to be done in me. I am prone to distraction and I am increasingly aware that the enemy can even use the things of the Lord, the good things of the Lord, to distract us from the One thing that matters most; that one thing that is needed. Mary understood that and Mary chose what was better. I do not want to continue to become more greatly distracted by the works of the Lord, but to allow those works to more greatly facilitate my love for Him. With every time that I find myself perfectly placed into His doings, and even the times that it doesn’t seem so perfect to me, I want to love Him more.
The passion translation puts Luke 10:42 this way, “Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.”
It is a privilege to sit at the feet of the Lord and to be focused on Him alone. This is not a call to stop being His hands and feet in this world, nor an excuse to sit at home all day every day with worship music blaring through your house, but encouragement to take a moment to evaluate where your love lies, and when given the opportunity to sit at His feet, allow yourself to be completely caught up in His presence.
I want to challenge you to take some time with these words today. Listen to the song. Seek out the scriptures. What is it that the Lord is saying to you? Are you truly able to sit at the feet of the Lord and say with your whole heart, “Jesus, I want you. I want you so much more than I want anything else in this world.”? If not, what is it that is taking His spot? What is it that you are sitting at the feet of?
Identify it, stand up, walk away, and find your seat at the feet of the Lord today.
