Author Archives: Karla Jo Wasion

I love Jesus and His Church. His Word is Truth, His heart is good, and His return is sure.

distracted

Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:41-42  

After pulling apart the words used to describe how Martha was feeling in this passage, I discovered two important definitions.

Distracted and drawn away

Martha loved Jesus too, that much is clear. In fact, I think she would have loved to just sit at His feet and drink in His every word. But ‘so much to do’ was pulling at her, too-busynipping her heels and making a lot of noise. People are depending on her, needing her, demanding her attention. Her days get consumed with needs and have to’s and should’s and no-time-for-that’s. I think maybe she would need to get up at 5:00 a.m. if she wants to be a Mary and good gravy that’s early.  And things start to feel no fair and I think Martha was just tired. And a little cranky.

Or maybe it’s just me.

Distracted. Drawn away. Pulled and tugged and nipped at and too tired to get up that early. But then I hear His words and I take the comfort they offer.

Few things are needed. Only one, really. Choose the better thing.

Because in all the pulling and nipping and noisy demanding…I’ve still been choosing. It just hasn’t felt that way. Sometimes, a  lot of times, feelings are liars. What feels like no choice is, in reality, the choosing we are doing.

Getting up early is not a mountain, it’s a choice. Ignoring the pull of need to, ought to and have to long enough to sit at His feet is not a wish, it’s a choice.

One of my favorite lines in the bible is simply this — “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  I love that line because of what it reveals of Jesus.

He will fiercely protect my choice to sit at His feet.

Quiet_TimeI want to be just as fierce in choosing to be with Him.

 

beautiful distraction

They were, I think, typical sisters. One was a tattletale, and the other one wouldn’t help out around the house. Their story has been told, taught on and used as examples that often bring guilt to women who like to “do” rather than just “be”.

Their story is in Luke 10:38-42, and when I really looked at it from a study perspective, I found a few treasures.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

  ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

First, Martha opened her home to Jesus. And then she turned her eyes to Mary and was offended by what she saw.

Have we invited Jesus into our lives and then turned our eyes to other people?

The Lord’s rebuke was gentle.  “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things…”.

I have never known Jesus to shine His light on just one particular action in my life. Whenever I have felt His gaze on something I am doing or not doing, He is exposing a heart issue. So I can’t help but wonder if Martha’s being “worried and upset about many things” was something that characterized the way she lived her life, rather than a momentary condition.

Life offers us many reasons to be worried and upset. One day, we could look around and find our lives characterized by worry, because we have neglected the only thing that was needed…time spent listening to Jesus.

And now we come to my favorite part of this teaching. This is the part that stirs something in me, fanning my flame of faith.

The King James wording for “worried and upset” is “cumbered”. That word means “drawn away”. So let’s picture the scene for a moment.

Jesus enters the home of these two sisters and takes a seat. Mary finds a spot at His feet and listens to Him speak. Meanwhile, Martha is trying to “get it all together” for her guest. I think she might look like me on Thanksgiving day. Only probably less frazzled.

Two women. Sisters. Both love Jesus and are loved by Him. But on this day, one is drawn away from Him by the many things that need to be done, while the other is drawn to Him…just to hear His voice.

Both women are distracted. Martha, by the many things that, in her mind, needed to be done. But the Holy One she had invited in gently reminds her that “only one thing is needed”.

at His feet
Mary had found the one thing. The beautiful distraction.

desperate encounters – the finale

She still can’t believe he’s gone. The ache in her heart compels her once again to go to the grave. She knows he isn’t really there, but she finds her only comfort in the place where his body lay. She just wants to be near him.

A Delivered Woman

She was among those who traveled with Him as He preached good news. (Luke 8:1-3)

She was with Him at the cross. (John 19:25)

She was at the tomb when He was buried. (Matthew 27:57-62)

And early in the morning, while it was still dark, she made her way back to His grave.

John 20:10-16

“Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’  ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.'”

She had come to be near Him, only to find Him gone.

“At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  ‘Woman,’ he said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.'” 

She saw Him, but in her grief and desperation, she did not “see” Him. She just wanted to know where He was, and was even willing to go get His body. Do you hear her desperation?

Her name was Mary Magdalene, and she followed Him with the devotion of one who knows what it is to be rescued from darkness. It is here, at the tomb, that we see the impact Jesus had on this woman. Once He had set her free, she no longer wanted to be without Him.

And with one word, one intimate word spoken by Jesus, her desperation was answered.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.'” 

In the deep place, where desperation resides, Mary was desperate for His presence. And in that moment when her desperation collided with the One she couldn’t “see”, He revealed His presence through the intimacy of calling her by name.

I am very fond of Mary Magdalene. While I have not been delivered of seven demons, I have been rescued from darkness. And like Mary, I am utterly devoted to my Deliverer. But so often I find myself unable to “see” Him, and I feel that same desperation for the presence of the One my heart loves. And then…He calls my name. Water for a thirsty, desperate heart.

 We’ve stepped into the world of four desperate women who encountered Jesus. These women lived their desperation out loud. Many of us work so hard to keep ours silent.  Too often, we are women who are strong and self-sufficient…keeping our desperation at bay, but barely.  We are afraid to be desperate, believing it to be a sign of weakness. But in the Gospel, I make a wonderful discovery.

Jesus is drawn to weak, desperate people.

The world offers us many things to distract us from our desperation, and quiet that inner ache. And yet, desperate people are all around us, both outside and inside the Church.

Nothing the world can offer will satisfy our desperation. It may hide it, it may numb it…but only when Jesus encounters it, is our desperation satisfied.

Perhaps surprisingly, it is in the secret place that I have encountered Him most. Not at church. Not at a conference. Not in the right setting with the right lighting and the right worship song. I have encountered Him most when I have been alone with Him in His word, as the truth of His love and mercy washed my soul.  In those times of silent prayer, when my lips had no words and I just had to trust He could hear my desperate heart…this is when I’ve heard Him call my name.

Encounter Jesus.

desperate encounters – pt. 3

This is part 3 of a 4 part post in which I look at four women, desperate for different reasons, who encountered Jesus. In part 1 I highlighted the woman at the well. You can read that here.  Then we looked at the woman with the issue of blood in part 2. Today I want to get to know one of my favorites. Actually, they are all my faves, but today’s desperate woman just speaks to me.

From Luke 7:36-48

The Sinful Woman

To be invited to a Pharisee’s home for dinner was not a small thing. It meant you were “somebody”. To have the lastest teacher or prophet at your home was an honor. No doubt Jesus’ popularity meant Simon the Pharisee wanted to be seen with Him. Given the fact that the Pharisees were always trying to trip Jesus up, this dinner party could also have been an opportunity to publicly embarrass Him. We really don’t know. What we do know, is that Simon did not extend customary hospitality to his esteemed guest, so I’m leaning toward Simon’s motives being a little shady here. Nevertheless, Jesus reclined at Simon’s table. Dinner would have been eaten around a very low table, and Jesus would have been reclining on one arm, supported by divans or cushions.  His feet, sandals removed, would be stretched out behind Him. And to those sinless feet, a sinful woman would come to worship.

sinful womanThink about her life:  No husband, alone, no way to support herself, known all over town as “a sinful woman”, which most likely meant she was a prostitute. Her prospects did not look good. Few men would marry such a woman. She would have been shunned by respectable society and prohibited from participation in the local synagogue.

She was unclean, unwanted, unacceptable, uninvited and unwelcome. So she came to Jesus with nothing but her desperation and an alabaster jar. And with these, she made a public display of repentance and worship. She pushed past the scorn of those around her, and she worshipped the One who could forgive her sin.

                             Our desperation can take us into many places before we finally let it drive us to the feet of Jesus.

“When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner.'”

But He did know. And when He was finished with Simon, the Pharisee also knew what kind of woman she was. Forgiven. Publically, for all to hear, Jesus gave her worth and dignity.

He honored her in front of the very ones who considered her unworthy of honor.

 I think of this woman, and I remember. I remember my own desperation,  having nothing else to offer Him. I too wept at His feet many, many times as the forgiveness I had received from Him gave way to an outpouring of worship from within me.

Yes, I think of this woman. Desperate enough to go where she was not welcome, to encounter the Savior. In that encounter, she found forgiveness, and offered her worship to the Forgiver.

sinful woman2A most beautiful encounter.

 Read the Finale of Desperate Encounters

desperate encounters – pt. 2

This is part 2 of a 4 part post in which I look at four women, desperate for different reasons, who encountered Jesus. In part 1 I highlighted the woman at the well. You can read that here.

From Mark 5:25-34

The Bleeding Woman

woman with issue of bloodThis is the story of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. The cause of the blood flow can only be speculated, i.e. menstruation, uterine tumors…we don’t know (although most agree it has to do with menstruation). What we do know is that it was an abnormal, chronic condition that brought her to desperation. To understand just how desperate, we need some background information.

She was a Jewish woman, so she would have been under the law of Moses. Leviticus 15:19-30 deemed her “unclean”.  That means that everything and everyone she touched became ceremonially unclean. She would have been shunned by her community, including her family. It is very likely that this woman had not been touched in twelve years. If she had been married, most likely her husband would have divorced her, as any sexual relations would have been unclean. She would not have been allowed to share in the annual worship celebrations that were considered important  in Judaism. She was not allowed to go into the temple courts, she could not light the candles for the Sabbath evening, nor could she participate in the Passover meal. It would have been as if she was non-existent in an existing world. She had every reason to be desperate.

And then she heard about Jesus, and her desperation drove her to do the unthinkable. She made her way through the crowd and touched the hem of His garment. Had He been a normal man, her touch would have made Him ceremonially unclean. And to compound it, as a woman she was not allowed to touch a man in public.

An unclean, desperate woman touched Jesus with faith that He could heal her, and the power of God was released.

So often we wait for His power to do something in our lives so that we can believe Him. Perhaps He is waiting for us to believe Him so that His power is released. 

It is here, in that moment of her touching Jesus that we learn something of the character of God. We learn it as much from how He did not respond, as from how He did respond.

He did not shame her for being unclean. He did not punish or even chastise her for breaking the law. He did not pull away from her. Instead, He called her “Daughter”. She is the only woman in scripture He addressed with that title, so, I have to wonder…why her? Could it be that this woman, untouched for so long, an outcast from her community of faith and her family, desperately needed to know she was still a “daughter of Abraham”?

An unclean outcast who touched Jesus. And in response, He publicly declared her to be clean, and called her Daughter.

I imagine this woman and her desperation. I would have been longing to be touched, to be accepted, to be healed. But having come to Jesus as an unclean woman myself, I know what it is be desperate to be clean.

While this woman lived under the law that said Jesus was untouchable, I lived under the lie that said He was untouchable. Because of the life I had lived, and was still living, I believed Jesus would have nothing to do with me.  Coming to Jesus meant coming to “religion”, something I just wasn’t ready to do. Until desperation drove me to Him, and I learned the truth.

The untouchable God became touchable through His Son, to a people who desperately need to be made clean.

Read part 3 of Desperate Encounters

 

desperate encounters – pt. 1

Desperation comes in various ways, but it touches all of us at one time or another. Loss of income, out of control addictions, marriage in crisis, illness, a child walking in darkness. Or maybe it’s deep shame that you can’t get away from, a need that keeps you running in the wrong direction, a loneliness that threatens to overwhelm you. Many are the reasons that people find themselves with the deep ache of desperation.  This will be part 1 of a 4 part post looking at 4 desperate women who encountered Jesus in scripture.

From John 4:3-32:

The Woman at the Well ~

First, I want to note an important point at the very beginning of this account.

woman at wellJesus was leaving Judea to return to Galilee. The text states in verse 4, “Now he had to go through Samaria”. The original language meant it was “necessary” to go through Samaria. But Samaria was not the only route, nor the usual route for Jews traveling that way. In fact, Jews typically went around Samaria, to avoid any contact with Samaritans (huge, huge feud/hatred between Jews and Samaritans). Yet, Jesus found it necessary to go through Samaria. And in doing so, He encountered a woman who desperately needed to meet Him.

No encounter with Jesus is accidental. 

So, at around noon (the sixth hour), He came to a well and, tired from His journey, He sat down.  Enter the Samaritan woman, coming to draw water from the well. This is where Jesus begins to break the rules.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?'” (v. 7).

Couple of things:  First, Jews did not speak to Samaritans. Second, a Jewish man would never have spoken to a Samaritan woman.

Our rules will not stop Jesus from encountering us.

 So begins an exchange between a desperate woman and the One who can answer her desperation.

The conversation begins as a verbal dance between these two strangers. He begins to speak of water and thirst. He speaks spiritually, she hears in the natural.  Finally, He puts his divine finger on the very spot that will reveal who He really is to her unseeing eyes. “Go get your husband.” A quick pirouette as she replies, “I have no husband.”

An encounter with Jesus may uncover something we would rather keep covered.

 So Jesus pulled back the cover. “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”  

Married five times, and now living in sin. I think it’s safe to say that this woman had some shame going on. Many of the commentaries I read all agree that she probably came to the well alone, rather than when the other women would have come, to avoid the scorn that was likely a way of life for her.

But here she is, in a counter-cultural conversation with a Jewish man who is obviously a prophet, likely to her discomfort.  And then, probably to her relief, the subject shifts to worship, and a life-altering revelation. This Jewish man, who purposely came into a place inhabited by despised people, broke the cultural rules and exposed what she tried to hide from Him…was her Savior.  What was a girl to do? She went back to town and told others.

woman's eyeI imagine this woman, and what may have been her desperation. She was a woman with a reputation. Her sin identified her. Shame and the scorn of others dogged her steps. If it were me, what would I be desperate for? I would have been looking for and wanting security and love. But I would have been desperate for a new identity.

Now, look at verse 39 ~”Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.'”

As she left the well that day, she went from outcast to missionary. From a woman living in shame to a woman with something important to proclaim. A new identity.

All from one desperate encounter with Jesus. Living water…quenching an unquenchable thirst.

Read Part 2 of Desperate Encounters.

then i will look up

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
         In the morning I will direct it to You,
         And I will look up.” (Psalm 5:3 NKJV)

 I will not pray to You, and then look to man for an answer.

I will not cry out to You, and then look at my own feeble hands, as though they have the power to lift me up.

I will not voice my trust in You, and then look down in despair at my “not enough”.

I will not thank You for Your salvation, and then look to my own self-righteousness.

I will not give thanks for Your mercy, and then look upon others with scorn.

I will not call you King of Kings, and then look to earthly kings for my security and well being.

I will not sing “You alone are worthy”, and then cast my gaze to earthly idols.

I will not seek You for provision, and then look for another well from which to draw.

I will not ask Your forgiveness, and then turn my head in shame.

Though it may be but a whisper, You will hear my voice.

And then I will look up.