In a world filled with competing voices, endless distractions, and unexpected disruptions, it can be difficult to focus on God’s voice. Like a radio that needs retuning to receive the right signal, our hearts sometimes need to be redirected toward Jesus. Through the example of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, we discover why spending time in His presence must come before serving Him.
Are distractions and disruptions keeping you from hearing God's voice?
Imagine with me you are in a car driving in the middle of a storm and you’ve got your favorite podcast on. For those that don’t know, every car radio has what is known as a variable capacitor. It is basically what we call the tuning dial on the radio allowing you hear to programs or music. You know – the thing you turn to find a station to listen to.
Now imagine with me an important national broadcast comes on – an emergency broadcast. You turn it up to hear it, but just as soon as it begins playing, your phone rings.
Well, you don’t have fancy bluetooth capabilities in your car, so you can’t answer because you’re driving and it’s unsafe to do that. The speaker begins sharing important information that concerns all citizens. But the rain picks up outside and the voice is buried further beneath the rain on the roof and thunder, from the storm. Then, other competing signals bleed in from other stations playing loud music. Now to hear the message, you cannot just turn up the volume – turning up the volume only makes the music louder. And its already so loud you just want it to stop! See, you have to carefully turn the dial, retune it, in order to once again hone in onto the exact frequency and hear the message. And then you can listen without outside interference.
Re-tuning to Zero in on God's voice
In life, like that example, oftentimes, we need some spiritual tuning because our tuning dial slips. When that happens, we have to turn that dial to try and retune. Otherwise we end up on another station listening to other voices that don’t really benefit us – rather than the one that matters most, which is God’s voice.
Today, we live in a world full of many voices that are trying to speak into our lives. They try to distract us, to influence us. As a result it has become increasingly difficult to zero in on God’s voice.
This article is the first in a series of four teachings which are all about being tuned in to God’s voice. We want to learn how we can somehow tune out the various voices competing for our attention that push God out of the picture. And in case you couldn’t tell, in this article, we are going to begin by talking about distractions and disruptions—anything that threatens to pull us away from the frequency of God’s voice.
Are distractions demanding your attention?
You know, distractions can come in many forms and may even seem harmless at first. But over time, distractions can sway our focus from the Most important Person in the universe to things of lesser importance. Disruptions operate in a similar manner. They pop up often out of nowhere and demand every ounce of our attention. It could be a small unexpected change of plans to your day. Or perhaps something more serious like a sudden illness or loss. Disruptions and distractions test how focused we are on Jesus.
Has your attention shifted away from Jesus?
In Luke 10, there’s a great example of what we’re talking about. Two women encounter Jesus. One who is so enraptured by Jesus that she can’t help but focus on him and another who allows meal preparations to shift her attention away from Jesus. Let’s tune in now to the Word of God.
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I love this passage because it functions like a parable, except that it was true. This short story occurs just after the parable of the Good Samaritan. After that teaching, Jesus and His disciples are on their way to Jerusalem and while they are traveling, they stop at a small village, where this woman named Martha invites them in. Martha lives with her sister Mary and Jesus sees this as an opportunity to teach once again. However, as we see in the passage, Martha doesn’t seem to take in the teaching, instead she was trying to serve all her guests and be a good hostess. It is Mary who sits and listens, clinging to every word Jesus shares.
Jesus is concerned with the heart
Charles Spurgeon is quoted for saying:
“the Martha spirit says, if the work is done, is not that all? The Mary spirit asks whether Jesus is well pleased or no? All must be done in his name and by his Spirit, or nothing is done.”
To be clear, if what you do isn’t done for Jesus alone, then the work is in vain.
Jesus is less concerned with how efficiently we serve Him and more interested in the Heart behind it. For instance, Martha cares greatly about being a gracious host to her guests. Perhaps its driven a sense of guilt or anxiety for what people might think if she doesn’t fulfill her hosting duties.
We don’t really know her reasons. But take a look – what does Jesus do when He notices Martha busying herself with preparing a meal and serving her guests? Notice that Jesus doesn’t condemn Martha’s actions. In fact, serving Jesus is part of what it means to know and follow Him. And Martha thought what she was doing was right. That’s not what Jesus is correcting in Luke 10. Jesus is pointing out that the real problem lies with the heart, not the what the hands are doing.
Are you a distracted or focused disciple?
There’s a name I like to use to describe Martha’s kind of service and its called distracted discipleship.
This is about when following Jesus is more about what you do than the One you do it for. Where you can be seemingly serving Jesus but your heart just isn’t in it.
When we serve Jesus out of obligation, we’ve missed the point. Similarly, when we work for Jesus before listening for Jesus, we lose energy. Whether its coming to worship or praying before a meal, serving and doing the right things for Jesus because you feel you’re supposed to, can often replace love with duty and joy with frustration.
Are you feeling like Martha?
Like Martha in Luke 10, who is, to her credit, trying to be a good hostess to her guests, she becomes so overwhelmed by the work that she fails to be fully present with the Son of God. I fear we sometimes treat our faith, our relationship with God, even Jesus himself as a project to simply get a good grade on, to get into His good graces.
Martha makes Jesus a Project and, in so doing, misses out on His Presence. Maybe you’re feeling like Martha and you’re confused because you feel like you’re doing all the right things but finding more and more frustrated or distant from Jesus.
Perhaps you volunteer for church ministries, you invite neighbours over for a meal, you give money to someone who needs it.
If that is you today (its likely all of us at one point in time or another) I do want you to ask yourself: why am I serving? Why am I inviting my neighbours over for a meal? Why am I helping with the kids ministry at church? Why am I assisting a co-worker or classmate with their work? Maybe you’ve given Jesus much of your time, but you haven’t really given Him your heart.
It’s possible to do all the right things with the wrong motivations, self-serving motivations. We can serve out of obligation. We can serve because we feel guilty. We can serve because we’re afraid of disappointing someone. We can serve because we’ve become so used to doing it that we’ve forgotten Who we’re doing it for. And that’s not the heart Jesus is after.
Jesus doesn't just want busy hands-He wants beating hearts
Jesus doesn’t just want busy hands—He wants beating hearts. He wants our service to flow from His presence and we can’t experience his presence if we’re neglecting spending time with Him. When your heart is really beating for Jesus, serving isn’t
merely something we feel obliged to participate in; it becomes an exciting, intentional response to who He is and what He has done for you. If you find yourself serving out of anxiety, guilt, obligation, pressure, or a fear of disappointing others rather than love for Jesus, the answer isn’t to stop serving or helping others. That’s not what I’m saying. The answer is to come back to Jesus, to retune your heart to Jesus’ frequency, so that what you do is motivated by a heart yearning solely for its Saviour. Don’t risk turning Jesus into a project that you miss His presence and purpose for you.
How does a Jesus-centered posture begin?
In Luke 10, Mary demonstrates what it means to center your heart and mind on Jesus. Unlike Martha, Mary’s posture demonstrates one that is attentive to Jesus and nothing else.
Mary’s posture teaches us how to tune our hearts to Jesus in the midst of competing voices.
What is Mary’s posture or position in this passage in Luke 10?
We can learn a few key lessons from the simple position Mary takes in this passage.
First, Mary chooses to be seated with Jesus. And that demonstrates humility. Mary didn’t sit in a chair opposite Jesus. She doesn’t stand and chat with Jesus. She offers Jesus the 
best seat in the house and then sits beneath him. That’s humility—recognizing God’s Son and our place in His presence. Mary approaches Jesus with honesty, with surrender, without entitlement or an agenda, and with hands, ears, eyes and hands open to the Saviour.
When was the last time you met with Jesus and did so by first approaching with that same kind of honesty, openness, and humility, without any wants but to know Jesus more?
That’s how a Jesus- centered posture begins.
Are your meeting daily at Jesus' feet?
Second, Mary chooses to be at Jesus’ feet. And that choice demonstrates intimacy. I mean, think about it, being right next to someone’s feet reveals a certain level of closeness, doesn’t it? It says, I don’t care how smelly or unclean or gross your feet are, it won’t stop me from being as close to you as possible.
In ancient, biblical times a student learning rabbinic law would often be seated at the feet of the Rabbi, their teacher. It showed a willingness to learn from the teacher.
The image of falling at Jesus’ feet appears elsewhere in the Bible. There’s the example of the Samaritan in Luke 17:6, who after being healed of his leprosy, returns to Jesus and realized the only way to show his worship and gratitude was to fall at Jesus’ feet. This was because, in recognition of who Jesus really was, all he could in His presence was fall and worship.
When was the last time you found yourself at Jesus’ feet, out of a profound sense of His Presence and the healing of your circumstances that He offers?
When Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, it shows surrender and submission, it shows a willingness to learn and grow, it shows readiness and love.
Can you say today that you meet daily at Jesus’ feet, desiring to be close to Him, desiring to surrender, submit, and love, above all else? If not, what steps do you need to take to fix that?
Mary fully listens to Jesus
Finally, Mary chooses to fully listen to Jesus and that demonstrates attentiveness. Not talk over him, not busy herself with serving their guest as Martha does, not half-listening.
Even when Martha starts incessantly complaining about her sister not giving her a hand, Mary doesn’t let it get to her.
This eagerness to listen to His voice and hear what He has to say demonstrates a practical element of how we should approach Jesus—that spending time with Jesus means patiently waiting for His voice even when its hard or uncomfortable.
Do you know someone who always feels like they have to speak when it is quiet? That is not how Jesus wants us to be with Him. A conversation with Jesus, like any conversation, goes both ways. And you can’t expect to hear from Him if you’re talking over him or not giving him your full attention.
Mary appreciated being with Jesus and simply enjoyed being fully in His presence.
Jesus invites Martha, you and me to be fully in His presence
Jesus invites the distracted Martha in Luke 10:42 to discover what Mary already has. Jesus says “there is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” The one thing Mary found and now valued above everything else in this moment was being fully present with Jesus, the Son of God, the one true King who was here to recuse his people from the darkness of their sins.
Can you say today that you are spending time sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully present with the Saviour? That posture minimizes the distractions around her.
Are you giving yourself the space, time, and focus to distinctly and clearly hear His God’s voice?
Today, are you more like Mary, spiritually practicing the posture of being fully present with Jesus? Or are you like Martha practicing distracted discipleship, doing the right things with the wrong motivation and without the presence of Jesus in any of what you do?
Or maybe you’re someone else entirely, so preoccupied with the distractions and disruptions this world offers, that you’ve not even let Jesus into your house. I want to encourage you to open the door even just a little bit and let Him begin speaking to you. He wants and craves your full attention, He wants you to know what it means to be in His presence and the blessings that come with that.
How well are you tuning out those distractions and disruptions that are vying for the attention that Jesus is due?
The second part of this series is called Tuned IN: Grumbling & Gratitude. It will explore how to tune into Jesus’ voice as we look at the voices of Influence & Insecurity and the pressure of defining our identity in and through the world.
