The Best Thing

I often start out the new year by setting goals for myself. I start a new daily planner and obsessively keep up with everything I think is remotely important. I am also a lover of to-do lists, and fill up many miniature notebooks with them.

But as I do this, I sometimes find that the best God-moments and accomplishments are things I don’t plan. Like the time God laid it on my heart to take cookies to a neighbor I hadn’t seen in a while. Or like on Saturday, November 18, 2014, when God prompted me to check my purse for my wallet before I went into a store. This intervention was such a powerful moment for me that I posted it on Facebook instead of the post I had planned for that day.

When I think of the truth in the scripture above, I think about the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. Martha is like me in that she has all these calendars and to do lists. More specifically, she has food to prepare and people to serve. And that’s a good thing. Mary, on the other hand, put aside lists and calendars and just listened to Jesus to see what his plan was. Jesus told Martha that she was doing the good thing, while Mary was doing the best thing.

It can be hard to be a Mary. I know it is for me. The world has conditioned many of us to focus on the good things at the beginning of the year. Jesus and the Apostle Paul ask us to pause and seek the best things. Even as I write this, I am challenged to have a new priority as I think about the year 2025. I need to be still and listen to the heart of Jesus for me in the new year. Calendars and to-do lists are good; but I think the best tool in planning for the new year will be my spiritual ears, tuned in to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Father, thank you for reminding us to seek what is best, rather than what is good. Help me to listen to your voice and resist the temptation to fill my moments with busywork. Help me fulfill your purpose for me, step by step and day by day by staying in tune with your heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Throughout this day: As you plan for the new year, what are some steps you can take to listen to the heart of God for you?

Here is a song about listening to God: MercyMe - Word of God Speak (Pseudo Video)