Try Softer

“Be still, and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46.10

O.K. All you “Type A” folks out there, please raise your hand…Hmm all right, no, keep them up now for a second. I have to tell you that you might take exception to what I am going to say, but please, understand; the Lord has a word for me today as well as for you. You can put your hands down now.

There once was a Type A woman by the name of Martha. She was a doer. Big-time doer. The Bible depicts her as one of the world’s all-time doers. I believe it would be safe to say if Martha had been given the opportunity to create her own bit of advice to all the world’s Type As she might have said something like this:

“If at first you don’t succeed, you weren’t doing enough!
So try, try again, and this time, try harder and do more.”

What do you think? Sound like Martha? Sound like you?

Now, many of you are going to be remembering Martha by now, and no doubt recall that she had a sister by the name of Mary. Mary was more of a “be-er” than a “doer.” And there were times when Mary’s be-ing kind of bugged Martha when she got a little overwhelmed with all her do-ing. That’s right, you remember the story now, from Luke 10.38-42, Martha busy doing her thing, rushing around trying to be the perfect hostess. Mary just sitting there at the feet of Jesus, simply being where she needed to be. And Martha tried to get the Lord to make Mary get up and lend Martha a hand, for Martha was working as hard as she could, and was about to wear herself out. And Jesus said to Martha, in so many words, “Martha, there’s no one I know who tries harder than you, but Mary understands that I want her to try ‘softer,’ and you need to try softer too sometimes.”

Try softer? Isn’t that the same thing as not trying at all? Well, no, trying softer means being still long enough to know that God is God, and that he is the real doer, not you. Not that we should all sit back and just idly watch as God does his thing, he does not want us, after all, to be mere hearers of his Word, but doers. But we’ve got to be hearers of the Word first, before we can even begin to pretend that we are doers of the Word.

This is not to indict all the folks who had their hands up a few moments ago. But it is some advice, if you’ll permit me. Try, just try, to ease up on all your do-ing. Instead of harder and harder, give softer a try. Be still, and let God be God, and listen and watch him long enough to maybe hear and learn something he wants to teach you today. The truth is, God will get you to slow down one way or another. He might take the direct root, as he did with Martha, and tell you that you need to sit down at his feet and chill for a bit. Or, if you are hard of hearing like I am, he might take more drastic steps. I remember a particularly nasty stomach bug he once used when I was particularly busy doing too much do-ing; it got me to stop and give him my full attention while I was lying on the floor of the bathroom. As rotten as I felt, I remember lying there thanking him.

So, all you hard case Type As out there, with your Day Timers overflowing with things to do, all geared up to try harder today, do yourselves a favor, and take a few moments this morning and try softer, be still as your day begins, and know that the Lord at whose feet Mary sat, he is God, and set a spell yourself. Being still first is the key to doing faithfully the things God wants us to do.