(photo from lds.org)38 ¶Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
I know how Martha feels. There have been times when I have been "cumbered about much serving" and frustrated that I'm not getting enough help or things aren't going as well as I would like. I always felt like Martha got a bad wrap until I actually read her whole story and saw the rest of her story.
The next time we see her is John 11. Her brother Lazarus has died and the Savior comes to Bethany, where they lived. Martha ran out to see Him and bears a beautiful testimony of Him.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
Although she didn't fully understand what the Savior was teaching, she bore a beautiful testimony. She had such amazing faith and believed that He could do anything.We see Martha one more time in John 12
2 There they made him a supper; and aMartha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
Here Martha is serving again, but she was not the same woman found in the previous chapter. The change that took place is fascinating to me. She truly took the Savior's counsel to heart and her focus changed. She was still serving, but look at how her testimony had grown. I have been pondering what is unwritten. How exactly did Martha still accomplish her earthly duties while still focusing on things of great importance? Had I been in her shoes and my brother had died, would I have believed the Savior when He said He could bring him back to life? I hope I would have.
I did some searching on Martha and what others said of her. This comment from Elaine L. Jack was the most poignant. "Focusing on our eternal purposes can ease our burdens and make our lives happy and more productive. Indeed, we often can do less and have it mean more."
Right now I am the Martha we first see; I need to work on becoming the Martha who testifies of the Savior and has her priorities correctly aligned. Now I need to figure out how to make it happen. Any suggestions or things that have worked for you?
