In Rhythm

you guys, happy sunday!

i just got back from wal-mart… you know, the closest thing to hell on earth outside of the DMV. but the whole time i was there, i was just thinking about and praying about the sermon we were so blessed with this morning.

pastor ryan brooks is one of our amazing teaching pastors at newhope, and i always feel so inspired after hearing one of his messages.

if you want to listen to / hear the message from this morning, you can watch it here.

we’re in the middle of this series right now called “Rhythm” – it’s all about finding your every day rhythm in Christ. the message today was focusing on Luke 10 – the story of the sisters, mary and martha.

now, i know the story of mary and martha well. i was a phi mu in college, and our founders were, coincidentally, named mary, mary, and martha – and so in phi mu bible study, we would often spend time in Luke 10.

in essence, the story is about two sisters who have Jesus come to their home. martha is busy cleaning and cooking and making everything perfect and preparing for Jesus to be there, when the second Jesus arrives, mary stops what she is doing and sits at His feet worshipping Him and LISTENING to Him. martha gets frustrated with mary and Jesus assures martha that mary is doing what she needs to be doing – LISTENING to Jesus. hearing HIS word. removing all distractions.

i think this is one of THE MOST applicable stories in the bible today. we are all so easily distracted. work, life, the internet, tv, our phones, social media, blogs – it’s all distracting. and often, we lose that time with the Lord. we fill our lives with things that, really, don’t matter much. and we stop listening to Him.

and the moment we stop listening to Him, that’s when we start distancing ourselves, and we stop growing.

…but even though what we may be doing might be a “good work” – like what martha was doing, that doesn’t mean it is a God work. nothing should come before sitting at the feet of Christ.

it was so cool today – at the end of the sermon, a metronome started playing quietly in the background behind Pastor Ryan – a little audio reminder of God’s rhythm – His presence. and as the room got quieter and Pastor Ryan got the congregation more focused on God’s rhythm, all of a sudden the rain started POUNDING on the roof of the church. i mean, it was almost deafening. and the more Pastor Ryan talked about God’s presence and God’s rhythm, the harder and louder the rain came down on the roof. it was as if God was showing off His natural rhythm – His presence… reminding us all that He was there in that moment.

and the moment that Pastor Ryan finished his point, the rain stopped.

i got goosebumps.

feeling God’s presence and taking time for His word is something i know i don’t get all the time, but i’m so thankful to be married to man that encourages me – and we encourage each other – to spend time in the Word.

no matter what, no matter how busy we are, every night we take at least 10 minutes to read a devotional or read the bible or just pray together. sometimes it’s not easy, and sometimes we’re still distracted, but we make an honest effort.

i know that being active in the #SheReadsTruth community has helped me a lot, too. i’ve been loving reading through the book of Proverbs this month.

we just need to continue to work on being present. and being here… now.

Because ‘Christ is not valued at all, if Christ is not valued above all.’

happy sunday, y’all.