Facing a ‘Good Emergency’? Consider Your Priorities. Luke 10:41-42.

What does it take to get you to change your plans? An emergency? I will never forget looking up from a hospital bed and seeing that my friends Chris and Amy had left their jobs to come see me after a nearly fatal car accident. We understand emergencies—we know we will be interrupted sometimes by disasters. We know we will have to drop everything to be there in someone’s time of greatest need.

But have you ever dropped everything for something positive? One definition of an emergency is “a set of unforeseen circumstances calling for immediate action.” By that definition, an emergency need not always be negative.

Would you drop what you were doing to meet your favorite singer or actor? Would you miss a few days of work to travel with a friend or family member to see them receive an unexpected honor?

Unexpected disasters and tragedies—bad emergencies—can create moments of urgency that require us to be flexible with our plans. But victories and triumphs—‘good emergencies’—can also create moments of urgency that require us to be flexible. We must recognize opportunities and seize them. To use an old blacksmith’s proverb, you must “strike while the iron is hot.”

“While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, ‘Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.’ The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her” Luke 10:38-42.

Preparing food and serving everyone was important. But listening to Jesus was more important.

Martha should have changed her plans. This was Jesus! In her house!

I understand the urge to be a good host—and hospitality was a critical virtue in that culture. But Jesus gave the last word on which priority mattered most: sitting down with Immanuel, God With Us—was more important than preparing food. Maybe there was a faster way to provide something to eat without it taking too much time. I can’t speak to all of Martha’s options.

But Jesus encouraged Martha—and us—to be more like Mary: drop what you are doing when you have a chance to participate in something incredible. If Jesus comes to your house, sit down and listen to Him. 

Sometimes good things will come along that we must recognize as emergencies—GOOD EMERGENCIES—and we must drop everything in order to give them our full attention.

And there is no ‘good emergency’ more important than spending time with Jesus.

Read Luke 10. 

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