Having a Martha Faith in a Mary World

Martha gets kinda bad rap because of her task oriented nature seen in Luke 10 where Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus spending time with Him while Martha fumes about how Mary isn't helping her prepare dinner for the house full of guests. Well, this story seems to overshadow something pretty awesome about Martha, her faith. So I'm gonna brag on the out-shined by her sister lady for a bit.

John 11 pins Mary and Martha's differences against each other again, showing Mary to be a feeler and Martha to be a thinker. And the beauty of this story is that Jesus shows Himself in so many ways. Not only does He show Himself to be boss over death but He communicates with the Martha the thinker and feels with Mary the feeler. Jesus makes it obvious that He meets us where we are. 

But this story is where Martha's faith shines. Her brother, Lazarus just died and her and her sister had asked Jesus to come days earlier. Jesus intentionally stayed in the town He was a couple more days, waiting for Lazarus to die so He could show His awesomeness. Nobody of course understood that. I mean, that's even hard to grasp today, seeing the Lord wait in showing off. 

Jesus arrives and sweet Martha is the one who goes out to meet Him. Mary doesn't go to Jesus, she stays in her grief and disappointment. Isn't that easy to do. Martha's first words to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that eve now God will give you whatever you ask."  How awesome is that! I'm so proud of her. Her brother just died and instead of seeing Jesus as incapable, she does the opposite. It seems she actually knows that Jesus can raise her brother from the dead. Jesus uses it as a teachable moment to give her a secret about His character. Beautiful! But instead of persisting in asking questions, she gets a bit know-it-all and her getting to hear more from Jesus about what He's gonna do stops there. 

But Martha's faith stays steady and strong even in the hardest of times. She concludes her little conversation with Jesus, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." written in the perfect tense indicating a fixed and settled faith, I have believed and will continue to believe.

Martha, the task-oriented, thinker is a great example to us of faith. But so often this world offers the example of having faith in our feelings and experiences instead of the truth of God's Word. 

Reflection Questions
If you were in Martha and Mary's shoes, having just lost your brother, how would your faith have been effected? What does that show you your faith is in?

This is from a book in the works, Embracing God with the Life You Never Expected; A Devotional on Overlooked Women in the Bible.

I will keep you updated when the release is getting close. But till then, I would love your prayers for the Lord to be glorified with it. Thanks!

About Laura

Laura, the founder of Missional Women is married and has five kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 12 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Staff Women's Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks to college and women's groups. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook, twitter,pinterest, youtube, instagram and her author site.

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