Decently and in order

Numbers 33:1–49, 1 Corinthians 15:12–34, Psalm 28:1–9

Having moved twenty-nine times, I often feel as if I’ve spent a major portion of life sorting and filing. I’ve some attention-deficit symptoms and my workspaces can become very messy, but I don’t do well if they stay that way too long. Because my mind is so easily distracted, life is easier when my stuff in order and easy to find, and my schedule is tackled in an orderly manner rather than doing things the way my mind operates— haphazardly and chaotic.

Today I noticed that God kept an orderly record of His dealing with His people. I like that. When He delivered them from bondage in Egypt, He sent them along their way in an orderly manner and kept track of when and where they travelled. This is just a short part of that record:

“These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the Lord executed judgments. So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness . . . . And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.” (Numbers 33:1-6; 38)

If nothing else, these careful records show us that God takes note of such things, even as He governs these events. He cares that things are done in a certain way.

The NT reading is about the resurrection, and this again speaks of order: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:22–26)

God likely doesn’t keep a check list with each item in priority order (like I do) but everything comes out just the way He planned it. We sing that our God is an awesome God, yet it would be totally appropriate to add these lines to that song (perhaps with some tweaking by an actual songwriter) . . .

Our God is an organized God,

He reigns with plans from above

With wisdom logic and love

Our God is an organized God

I am the most organized-on-the-outside, disorganized-on-the-inside person that I know. For that reason, I rejoice that, “The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.” (Psalm 28:8) The more scrambled I am, the greater my need to trust Him to keep my life in order. I am fully convinced that He is willing and perfectly capable of making sense of the messes that I make.

At His feet

I’ve one of those big birthdays coming up, those that make a person think about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. I’ve been organizing and tossing, eliminating and concentrating my ‘stuff’ but still not sure of the answer to that question. I like to do so many things, but realize that life is far to short to do them all.

Today’s reading is from Luke 10 and familiar. Jesus came to the home of Martha and Mary. Mary seems to have done her part in the kitchen and then sat at the feet of Jesus, the attitude of a disciple and one who intended to listen.

“But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me?’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Blanking out on the reading, I decided to check some commentaries. The Holy Spirit used them to target my heart.

• Getting over-worked up about many things in this world is a common fault and very displeasing to Christ. If I do it without just cause, I’m apt to wind up with an added load and something really worth fretting about. (Matthew Henry)
• Godliness unites the heart; the world divides it. The many things Martha was troubled about were needless, while the one thing she neglected was vital for her own spiritual health. (Matthew Henry)
• Martha received Jesus into her home and then neglected Him as she prepared an elaborate meal that He did not need! What we do with Christ is far more important than what we do for Christ, not an either/or question but a matter of balance. (W. W. Wiersbe)
• Whenever we criticize others and pity ourselves because we feel overworked, we had better take time to examine our lives. Perhaps in all of our busyness, we have been ignoring the Lord. (W. W. Wiersbe)
• Martha’s problem was not that she had too much work to do, but that she allowed her work to distract her and pull her apart. She was trying to serve two masters! If serving Christ makes us difficult to live with, then something is terribly wrong with our service! (W. W. Wiersbe)
• Martha’s choice would be taken from her because the oh-so-important meal she made in the kitchen would soon be gone. Mary’s choice was eternal. (Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown)

The last one gives the best direction; those before it are totally convicting. Even though I spend daily time at Jesus’ feet, certainly the tasks of the past few weeks are a distraction. Does Jesus need all the stuff I’ve collected and am trying to organize and make use of? Am I neglecting Him while I toss or file? Am I even considering that I am doing all that I do for Him? Or is it just for me? If for Him, I should not feel so ‘overworked and underpaid.’

I have pitied myself about having far too much to do, and occasionally griped that others are not pulling their share. Wiersbe’s words about that are pointed, but I must listen. If what I do is making me complain or grumpy, then I need to reexamine why I do those things.

The last observation is helpful. What is going to make a difference for eternity? Some I can only guess (for God uses the oddest things for His purposes), but others are obvious. It is time for some far deeper sorting and tossing, this time at His feet.