Only one thing is needed

“Only one thing is needed”

Do you ever feel you’re caught in the conundrum of wanting to be more Mary and yet sense you spend more time being Martha in your career?

Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet as Martha looks on anxious and distracted

Martha welcomes Jesus and His disciples into her home (Luke 10:38-42) and then rushes around trying to meet all their hospitality needs.  She wants to do a good job, but she is distracted and perhaps overwhelmed by all she has to do. She notices her sister Mary sitting at Jesus’s feet listening to what He’s saying, and I imagine that adds to her frustration and overwhelm. What really mattered to Martha was the presence of Jesus in her home, but she was being pulled away by her worries and distractions.

That’s the way it is with me, distractions pull me away from spending time with Jesus.

In September 2023, I remember sitting down at my desk and panicking about the volume of work and life activities coming up and being concerned about how I was going to manage them all, and how to prioritise, so I sat down and prayed “Father God, help me what should I do?”

 I felt Him say to me, “I want you to have coffee with me every day after lunch”. You can imagine how I responded – ‘What do you mean? That’s something else I have to add to my already busy schedule’ – I mean seriously, I was looking for help to lighten the load, not add to it!

Anyway, I decided to give it a go, and after lunch I’d sit down with a cup of coffee and I’d play some worship music, read some scripture or write in my journal – there was no set format. 

After a few days I noticed something significant – firstly I always have coffee after lunch – I’m pretty partial to coffee but as I reflected back, I realised in this coffee time after lunch I had always been browsing the news, scrolling on my phone, telling myself that I was just catching up on what was going on in the world, without realising how this was setting me up badly for the rest of the day.  I’d drink my coffee and feel frustrated and anxious by the state of the world and be all churned up before getting back to work. 

Coffee with Jesus.

What happened instead when I spent this time with God, was that I was more peaceful, more relaxed, more faith filled and more open to hearing God’s voice and this is what He whispered to me “Only one thing is needed” – and it was if the penny dropped – “Oh I see what you mean!” This 1-2-1 time with Jesus is supremely valuable.

It was an invitation to rest and reset with Him. Having coffee with Jesus, reminded me how much I was loved. I slowed down enough (in the middle of the day) to hear His voice, to regain perspective, to be refreshed before the rest of my day.  It was transformative!

When we slow down, our internal nervous system quietens, and this helps us become more aware of God’s still small voice, more open to hearing His whispers, more able to focus on Him. I discovered I was calmer, more productive and more attuned to His plans for the rest of my day.

Listen and Learn.

I called this time with Jesus, ‘Listen and Learn’ and even diarised it so I would take this time out to meet with Him daily.  I began to look forward to this time, of being refreshed and refuelled by Jesus.

 I’d love to be to report that I’m still doing it, but the truth is at the end of 2023 I had an accident, which meant in 2024 I often needed to rest or sleep after lunch and gradually this time with Jesus fell off my radar. Now there was no condemnation when I needed to sleep instead of meeting with Jesus after lunch. I learnt that He delights to spend time with us all the time, no matter what we are doing.

But as I’ve recovered and got stronger and fitter, looking back I realised I neglected to make space for God, and the consequence was increased distraction, increased fatigue, a scattered faith. But even when we are faithless, God is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13) and He was able to reach through my ‘distractions’ when I made space for Him, and it came to me, my aim for 2026 should be to be more Mary and less Martha.

Reflect on your own relationship with God

The R in the GRACE framework is for Relationships and in particular your relationship with God. Do you want to know God’s will and provision for your career? Take the time to get to know Him well and grow your relationship with Him.  This is what Mary was focused on.

The more you spend time in God’s word, the Bible, the more you will understand about what He wants for you. The more time you spend with God praying the more you will learn to hear from Him. The more time you take to listen to Him the more you will recognise His voice!  Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

God is not in a hurry, and so in order to hear Him it helps to slow down and take time to hear what He has to say. Find a time and space that suits you best, either a quiet spot at home, or on a daily walk, maybe even during your lunch break. Take time to ponder with God, ask Him questions and see what comes to mind. You may need to jot these things down when you get back from a walk. Or if you prefer, sit quietly with Him. You could play some worship music and get out your Bible and journal. You’ll be amazed about what He has to say about your career.