When Things Don't Work Out

A.W. Tozer said: “Before God made man, He first prepared a world of useful and pleasant things for him. But in the deep heart of man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come, until sin entered, and God was forced out of His shrine, as things were allowed to enter, and take over.”

“Thing” is such an odd word—meaning nothing and everything at once. Miriam Webster says a “thing” is property and belongings, but also ideas and activities. We all have things occupying us.  And more to the point, we are painfully aware of the things that force God out of the shrine of our hearts.

We live in a world where we measure our worth by how many things we have and how well we get things done. We value making things or collecting things, but are not shy about throwing things away. We like shiny things and tiny things. We despise useless things. We like to allow things to happen, try new things, shake things up, and set things straight. And we hate it when things fall apart.

When Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha, He gave them a lesson on “things.” While Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to Him, Martha was distracted by her preparations. Telling Him about the “things” she had to do, Jesus said, "you are worried and bothered about too many “things,” when only one “thing” matters; and that's the “thing” Mary has chosen.  While Martha was busy doing her thing, Mary had set her mind on things above. Now that is some thing to think about.