Copyright © 2026 Women of the ELCA. Reprint permission is granted for use in Women of the ELCA units, clusters/conferences and synodical women’s organizations provided each post is reproduced in its entirety. If you enjoy this resource, Donate Now.
I have often found the story of Mary and Martha (from Luke 10) frustrating. Like Martha, I worry about getting things just right. I am apt to take Jesus’ admonishment personally. But Jesus reminds her – and me – of the right priorities. Jobs will come and go. Homes will come and go. Our sense of financial security will come and go. Even our ministries and congregations will come and go. We must work hard at these things, but we must also remember that they are temporary and that the heart of our work must be trusting God through the ups and downs.
I’ve spent my adult life striving, worrying and despairing. I’m sure I will spend much more of it that way. God is not a vending machine, where we insert productivity and blessings are dispensed. Waiting on God’s time doesn’t mean waiting for God to fulfill my temporary requirements. It means knowing that God is with us and God’s time is eternal. God’s blessings come constantly.
This message is excerpted from “God’s time” by Rebecca Eve Schweitzer in the October 2020 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany and Olaf, King of Norway, martyr, 1030.