‘Only one thing needed’ cure for the ‘tizzies’

Every so often, which is increasingly more often than not, I wake up in the middle of the night in a tizzy, thinking about everything I have to do the next day.

By the time I get out of bed in the morning I’m already tired from trying to quell this raging tizzy inside of me.

Last night it was this column that I’m writing now that had my insides all hurry-scurry.

I already have a list of stories I’m working on, phone calls to return and emails to address, and now the deadline for my column racing towards me is overwhelming me, and I don’t know what to do first, and I don’t know what to write about.

Just a moment ago, as I wolfed down my breakfast and almost choked on a piece of cantaloupe, I think I heard God telling me, “Only one thing is needed.”

However, right now I don’t have time to think about what that “one thing needed” even means.

Except maybe that’s an idea for this column?

Yes, maybe someone reading this needs to hear these words from Jesus: “Only one thing is needed.”

He said that to his friend, Martha, in Luke 10:42, when he stopped by the home of Martha and her sister, Mary.

As Martha busies herself in the kitchen — somebody has to assemble the charcuterie board and make the guacamole — Mary sits at Jesus’ feet with the disciples, listening.

Martha complains, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

Jesus doesn’t.

Instead, he says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed.”

Then he tells her, “Mary has chosen (that one thing) and it will not be taken away from her.”

Side note: Never ask Jesus a question that you don’t want the answer to.

So, to you who need to hear about the “only one thing that is needed,” here are my thoughts:

Maybe Jesus’ words to Martha aren’t necessarily a rebuke to make her feel guilty, but an acknowledgement that he sees her and knows her, knows what she needs most.

Maybe he’s letting her know, “We can grill burgers later. It’s OK. It’s YOU I care about.”

He’s saying, “You’re frantic and worried, working yourself into a tizzy, and I care because it’s not healthy for you. So, come and sit with me. Rest. Relax. We’re friends.”

Jesus once told another group of people: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Maybe Jesus reminded Martha of the words of the psalmist: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:1-3) and “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2), and that he is the Shepherd and the Rock.

Maybe Jesus is telling all you who need to hear it that the “only one thing” that is needed isn’t found on a to-do list, something to check off, but a way of life, a way of rest and peace.

That he’s already done the work when he died on the Cross and rose from the grave.

We can’t add to it or subtract from it.

It is finished.

My advice? For those of you who are frantic and fussy and in a tizzy like Martha, go to Jesus for rest.

Yeah, that’s what you should do.

Nancy Kennedy can be reached at 352-564-2927 or by email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.