4. The Cure

After naming the problem, Jesus gives an answer in Luke 10:41-42: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Look at the contrast. Martha has many things. Jesus says one thing is necessary. He does not hand her a better system for managing the many. He narrows the field.

The chapter builds on that with a wagon-and-rocks story about carrying burdens God never assigned. It also names a driven, perfectionist pull, using the label “Martha Stewart,” and it sets the cure beside warnings against works-based Christianity. Two Scriptures sit behind those warnings. In Galatians 3:3, Paul asks whether people who began by the Spirit are now trying to finish by their own effort. In Titus 3:5, he says God saved us, not because of works we did, but according to his mercy. If you are tired from trying to earn your place, the cure begins with receiving rather than performing.

The book also turns to Paul's own “one thing” in Philippians 3:13-14. He talks about forgetting what lies behind and stretching toward what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal. Notice what is left out of that sentence. There is no inventory of accomplishments. Paul's attention has one direction.

The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25 appears too, and the book notes that his “one thing” differed from others'. Read it yourself. In Luke 18:22, what Jesus puts his finger on has to do with the man's wealth, and verse 23 says he became very sad because he was extremely rich. Placed next to Martha, this raises a question for us: the one thing Jesus asks may not look the same for every person, so we can't just copy someone else's routine. We have to ask him.

The practical exercise in the chapter is called dumping rocks, and it is simple. Don't let this become another task to perfect. It is permission to put something down.

1. On a blank page, write one “rock” you have been carrying that you don't believe God ever assigned to you. Let it be your own, in your own words. 2. Pray over it. Say you're setting it down, and ask Jesus to take it. 3. Ask what the one thing is for today, and spend five minutes on it.

If you find that you can't put anything down without a wave of shame or fear that you'll be punished, that deserves care. Talk with a pastor or counselor who can help you sort out what is truly yours to carry.

Jesus doesn't answer Martha's anxiety with a better system. He gives her a short sentence: "one thing is necessary." Weaver's fourth chapter is about that one thing, and it is startling in how small it is. Martha had many things. Jesus offers one.

Then he adds: "Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." Notice that he says Mary chose. Her place at his feet wasn't a personality trait or luck. It was a choice, and it was one that nobody could repossess. Dinner would be eaten and gone by evening. What Mary received would stay.

The chapter uses a wagon-and-rocks picture: a woman pulling a wagon full of burdens, some of which God never put there. If you're honest, you can probably name a few rocks in your own wagon. Maybe it's the pressure to be a flawless mother, to keep the house company-ready, or to be the woman who never says no. Weaver also names a driven, perfectionist streak, which she jokes about as a "Martha Stewart" tendency. The question for this week is not "How can I carry more?" but "Who handed me this rock?"

The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25 shows that the one thing is not the same list for everybody. Jesus told him he lacked one thing, and for that man it meant letting go of his wealth. It would not be the same for Martha, and it may not be the same for you. The point is that Jesus knows the exact thing standing between each person and himself. He doesn't hand out a generic checklist.

Weaver also warns against works-based Christianity. Galatians 3:3 asks how people who began by the Spirit could now try to finish by their own effort. Titus 3:5 says God saved us not because of works we did but according to his mercy. If you earn God's love by performing, you'll always be Martha with a longer list. Serving matters, but it can't buy you a place at the table.

Finally, Paul gives his own "one thing" in Philippians 3:13-14: forgetting what lies behind and pressing on toward what lies ahead, toward the prize of God's call in Christ. Notice the forgetting. Part of choosing the good portion is letting go of yesterday's failures and yesterday's guilt. You can't sit still while dragging a wagon of regret.

The cure is not laziness. It is order. Jesus first, then the work he really assigned you. Everything else is a rock you can set down.