Distractions

Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Do you ever get distracted? I know I - oh look, a dust bunny! I kid, but in all seriousness, distractions are a big thing for me. I meant to read my Bible, but I got distracted by a tv show... I meant to practice guitar, but I got distracted by a jar of nutella... I meant to write a new blog, but I got distracted by online mahjong. You get the idea.

Sometimes my life is one big distraction. On paper, it doesn't look like I've got too much going on, but when it comes down to it, I feel like I don't have time for anything. Or rather, I'm not spending enough time on the important things. I don't know why I let trivial pursuits get in the way of the bigger picture. You'd think it would have been something I'd have learned by now. But I still do it. I still lay my head down at the end of the day, thinking about all the things I wanted to do and how many I actually did.

Are you like that at all? Maybe you're not. Maybe you've got it all together and always get all the checks on your to-do list. For the rest of you distracted procrastinators like me, hang in there. Don't let the small things get in the way of the big. Keep your focus on the One who's driving you to do it, and the rest will come along... eventually.

Busy? Rest.

Matthew 11:28-29
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

I have been so busy this week. We're going through some changes at work and it's required me to take on more responsibility for a while and work some extra hours. Nothing major, but piled on top of the stuff I already have to do, it feels like a lot. I get bogged down. I realize I haven't updated the blog, and when I started this blog, my intent was to update on a near daily basis.

The thing about life is that it will always be busy. There's always something that's not going to get done. I need to stop focusing so much on all that stuff, and focus instead on spending some time with my Savior. He's promised me rest... then why do I have such a hard time resting?

I don't really have an answer right now. And I think that's OK. What I'm being reminded of tonight is that Jesus called the weary and burdened to Himself. The reward is rest. Maybe I should come to Him more; learn from Him more; spend less time in the world. Maybe then I would know what real rest is.