Only One Thing Is Needed

I’m teaching a women’s Bible Study on Thursday evenings at our church. We spent about five weeks on the seven churches of Asia Minor from Revelation 2 and 3. During our study of Christ’s letters to these churches, we all became powerfully aware of our need to be the “bride” we’ve been called to be . . . a bride in waiting, preparing diligently for her wedding day.

Very often, I’ll have a dream that sticks with me longer after I wake up. I’ll pray and ask the Lord to speak to me through the dream or to remove it from my memory. Well, recently I had a dream which stuck with me – it “bothered” me and wouldn’t leave me alone.

In the dream, I agreed to marry a man I didn’t really love. He was alone and I could help him. I told him the “love thing” didn’t really matter. I was just offering myself to him because it seemed like the right thing to do. We were sitting in a restaurant and I looked up at him and realized I would have to give up a lot to be his wife and suddenly wasn’t so sure I wanted to go through with the wedding. At times I’d look at this man and I didn’t even like him and my feelings for him disgusted me — I couldn’t imagine thinking the thoughts I was thinking. But, finally I settled it in my mind … he needed me and I was one who lived to serve. So we went on with the plans understanding there would be some major adjustments made before the wedding day. And, of course, all the adjustments were to be on my part if I truly had a servant’s heart. I was pre-occupied with the cost to me personally and almost backed out of the arrangement. But I remember putting on the wedding dress and presenting myself to my husband.

That’s about all I can remember. Please understand that I don’t expect understanding to come from every dream. But, those lingering dreams very often are meaningful and I always pray and ask the Lord to use them to speak to me. Apparently He did so with this dream.

What the dream showed me is that I’m not IN LOVE with Christ as I once was – I do a lot to serve Him but I’m lacking in the love area because I’m preoccupied. I didn’t realize that, but I can see it. He also showed me that I count the cost of serving Him too highly, not that I should stop serving, but I should spend more time simply loving. My attitude toward Him is the “love” thing really doesn’t matter. The fact is, however, that it does matter.

The Lord is revealing to me that I’d much rather work for Him than to simply sit at His feet and love Him. He also showed me that it is hard for me to just sit and gaze into His eyes – the thing that disgusts me is my own reflection seen in His loving eyes.

He showed me that by serving Him, I avoid facing some issues in my own heart—those very issues that I saw reflecting in His eyes. The Lord also showed me that while He loves me, my thinking that He needs me is simply pride. And, of course, the adjustments that would have to be made before the wedding day must take place in my own heart, not because of my “servant’s heart”, but because His bride will be spotless and without wrinkle.

But finally He showed me that He will bring me through and draw me into a deeper love relationship with Him, not by more service, but simply by loving Him as I present myself to Him dressed in robes of His righteousness.

The thing is, I live to serve the Lord. My entire life is wrapped up in ministry of some sort. I love the Word, I love to teach the Word, I love to pray with women and minister to them. I love to help in any way I can. I love to be an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. These are the things that keep me alive and pushing myself beyond what would otherwise be impossible to me. And, I love the Lord! The problem is, I don't take the time to just sit and love Him. I'm so attached to Him in the arena of service that intimacy has taken a back seat to service. And, it must not be so! Intimacy must come first and service flow out from there. And, it's intimacy that He is calling me back to.

The dream had a bittersweet interpretation for me ... one which requires me to open my heart and work on some areas I’ve tucked away neatly. It’s time to ruffle up the storage closet and get rid of the cobwebs and the stuff that has snuck in and taken up space, making room for a simple and loving relationship with Christ … choosing “what is better”.

"[Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:39-42)

© Jan Ross 2007