Awake // Lesson 2

Devotional

Day 1: When Seeing Requires Effort

After losing his glasses on a roller coaster, the pastor discovered that blurred vision forces us to notice details we’d otherwise overlook. Spiritual sight often works the same way—what once felt automatic now demands intentional focus. Distractions, obligations, and cultural noise can cloud our ability to perceive God’s presence. Yet when we lean into the effort, we begin to see sacred moments hidden in the ordinary. The struggle to see clearly becomes a pathway to deeper trust. [01:23]

She 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 few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:39-42, NIV)

Reflection: What distraction or responsibility most often clouds your ability to recognize God’s presence this week? How might you intentionally create space to “sit at his feet” amid the noise?

Day 2: The Well of Competing Loyalties

Centuries ago, people visited a Welsh well to test their loved ones’ loyalty through ripples caused by eels. Today, we still seek tangible signs to validate our fears or desires. Yet faith cannot be reduced to superstition or transactional rituals. True loyalty to God grows not from external validation but from trusting his character when answers feel distant. Our longing for certainty often drowns out the quiet voice of faithfulness. [05:10]

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart… but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12, NIV)

Reflection: Where are you demanding visible “signs” from God instead of listening for his whisper? How might your doubts reveal a deeper hunger for his nearness?

Day 3: Bells, Busyness, and Sacred Interruptions

Medieval believers rang blessed bells to drive away evil spirits, believing sound could shape spiritual reality. While we no longer fear literal demons, our modern “busyness” often functions like those bells—a frantic attempt to control chaos through activity. Yet constant motion can deafen us to God’s interruptions. Sacred pauses disrupt productivity, inviting us to trust his protection over our striving. [08:11]

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)

Reflection: What task or worry keeps you ringing “bells” of control this week? How might stillness—even for five minutes—reorient your heart to God’s sovereignty?

Day 4: When Service Replaces Surrender

Martha’s problem wasn’t her work but her resentment. Her service began as worship but became a burden when it eclipsed her awe. Like her, we often confuse usefulness for faithfulness, measuring our worth by output rather than intimacy. Jesus’ gentle rebuke reminds us that love cannot be earned through labor. The “better thing” Mary chose was not inaction but undivided attention. [23:19]

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33, NIV)

Reflection: When have you resented serving others? What might it look like to offer that same work as an act of surrender rather than a performance?

Day 5: Awakening to the God Who Is Here

Jacob only recognized God’s presence after wrestling through the night. Like him, we often miss the divine in our deserts until hindsight reveals it. Our world brims with holy moments—a shared meal, a quiet prayer, an unexpected kindness. Yet we must be formed to see them. Every distraction we release, every silence we embrace, trains our eyes to behold the God who never left. [24:54]

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you recently overlooked God’s presence? What daily practice could help you awaken to his nearness in ordinary moments?

Sermon Summary

Luke 10 puts two sisters in the same house, before the same Jesus, and shows that the same moment can be seen in two very different ways. Martha opens her home to Jesus and gives herself to good work, real work, needed work. Mary sits at the Lord’s feet and listens. The text does not make Martha evil or shallow, because Martha is faithful, hospitable, thoughtful, and deeply loved by Jesus. But Martha becomes “distracted by all the preparations,” and her service slowly turns into worry, resentment, and an inability to receive what Jesus is giving.

The question underneath the scene is attention. Attention is not passive. Attention forms desire, reaction, and character. What receives attention shapes what a person is able to see, and it also shapes what a person starts to overlook. Martha sees responsibility, place settings, bread timers, and all the work that has to be done. Mary sees an invitation. The kingdom of God has walked through the front door, and one sister can sit still enough to notice.

The old story of the Welsh island and the magic well shows that people once lived in a world where mystery, transcendence, angels, demons, blessing, and divine action were simply assumed. Church bells were not just decoration or timekeepers. Their sound was believed to push back evil. That world had room for the unseen. Modern life has formed people differently. The modern mindset tends to reduce reality to what can be explained, measured, or seen. Explanation can tell what happened, but it cannot always tell what it means.

The growing number of religiously unaffiliated people shows that many people still ache for meaning, connection, wonder, and something more than a flat, horizontal world. Christianity is no longer the shared framework that quietly carries a culture. Faith has become more effortful now, not because God has moved farther away, but because thousands of voices are forming people to see certain things and miss others.

The call is not to gripe that things are not like they used to be. The opportunity is to inhabit ordinary life as though God is genuinely active and present in it. Faithful adults and faithful churches do not merely tell people what to see. They show people how to see. The central question becomes, what is what a person is doing, doing to that person? In the middle of distraction, worry, usefulness, and noise, God is still inviting people into meaning, purpose, mystery, and presence. Surely the Lord is in this place. The real question is whether attention has been formed enough to see it.

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Key Takeaways

1. Attention teaches the eyes [03:10] Attention is not just where the mind happens to drift. Attention is a form of training that teaches a person what counts as real, urgent, and valuable. When attention is constantly shaped by noise, hurry, and visible outcomes, the unseen presence of God can become easy to miss. [03:10]
2. Service can become a substitute [23:53] Martha’s work begins as hospitality to Jesus, and that makes the warning more searching. Good work can slowly become a way of avoiding stillness, receiving, and dependence. Faithfulness cannot be reduced to usefulness, because a person can do much for Jesus while becoming too anxious to be with Jesus. [23:53]
3. Explanation cannot carry all meaning [10:39] Explanations can name causes, patterns, and processes, and those things matter. But explanation alone cannot answer the ache for wonder, connection, and purpose. A flattened world may be easier to manage, but it leaves the soul hungry for the meaning only God’s presence can give. [10:39]
4. Ordinary life can reveal God [17:29] God does not need dramatic conditions in order to be present. The real issue is whether ordinary life is being inhabited as a place where God may speak, interrupt, redirect, and invite. A life formed by that expectation becomes a living witness, not just an argument with better answers. [17:29]
5. Distraction can hide invitation [26:16] The problem with distraction is not only that it wastes time. Distraction can keep a person from recognizing the invitation sitting right in the living room. The question is not whether God is near, but whether worry and hurry have trained the eyes to miss him.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:27] - Losing Glasses and Learning to See
[01:59] - Martha and Mary in Luke 10
[02:56] - Two People, Same Jesus
[04:26] - The Welsh Well and Magic Eels
[07:05] - An Enchanted World of Faith
[09:19] - The Modern Mindset and the Seen
[11:15] - The Rise of the Religiously Unaffiliated
[14:52] - Faith Has Become More Effortful
[16:54] - What Is Life Forming People to See?
[19:53] - Returning to Martha and Mary
[22:21] - When Good Service Becomes Anxiety
[24:36] - Becoming Able to Recognize God
[25:10] - Questions and Practice for the Week
[26:33] - Surely the Lord Is in This Place

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Luke 10:38-42
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She 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 few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'” [01:59] [19:53]

Genesis 28:16
“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.'” [24:54] [26:33]

John 11:1-44
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love is sick.' When he heard this, Jesus said, 'This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.'” [21:45]

Observation questions

In Luke 10, what different actions do Mary and Martha take when Jesus enters their home, and what words does Jesus use to describe Martha’s condition?
What details in Luke 10 show that Martha’s work was real and necessary, not lazy or unimportant? [21:34]
In Genesis 28:16, what does Jacob realize only after he wakes up, and how does that connect with the idea of missing God’s presence in a place?
What examples are given of the kinds of things that can capture a person’s attention so strongly that something more important gets overlooked? [22:32]

Interpretation questions

Jesus does not rebuke Martha for opening her home, but for being “worried and upset about many things.” What does that suggest about the difference between faithful service and distracted service? [23:45]
Martha and Mary are in the same house before the same Jesus, yet one sees responsibility and the other sees invitation. What does that reveal about how attention shapes spiritual sight? [23:27]
If explanation can tell what happened but not always what it means, how might that help explain why many people still feel hungry for wonder, connection, and purpose? [10:39]
Martha’s service begins as a response to Jesus, but it can become a substitute for attending to Jesus. What are some ways good Christian activity can slowly drift into that substitute? [23:53]

Application questions

What has been receiving most of the group member’s attention lately: work, screens, family pressures, church responsibilities, worries, or something else? What might that attention be forming that person to see, and what might it be forming that person to overlook? [25:10]
When has someone done something good and slowly become irritated, anxious, or resentful while doing it? What might that reveal about what was happening in the heart beneath the action? [23:09]
Faithfulness cannot be reduced to usefulness. Where might someone be tempted to measure spiritual health mainly by productivity, reliability, or how much gets done? [22:44]
Ordinary life is still a place where God may speak, interrupt, redirect, and invite. In what part of this coming week would it be hardest to believe that God is genuinely present? Why there? [17:47]
Many voices compete to define what matters. Which voices most strongly shape the group member’s imagination right now, and how can that be recognized in daily habits, moods, and reactions? [16:09]
“Surely the Lord is in this place” can be true even when a person is distracted. What simple practice could help someone pause and become more awake to God’s presence in the middle of a normal day? [25:45]
Faithful people do not only tell others what to see; they help others learn how to see. How could someone quietly show a child, friend, spouse, coworker, or neighbor that God is present in ordinary life? [17:29]

Sermon Clips

45s

#PresenceOverPerformance

“``Martha had become so anxious and worried that she couldn't see the bigger picture. Where Martha saw responsibility, Mary sees an invitation. These are sisters and they're seeing things much differently. Now, this is not a be Martha, be Mary, don't be Martha situation. Okay? I think there's something deeper we can take from all of this. Because Martha's service began as a response to Jesus' presence, but at some point, it became a substitute for attending to his presence. This is the difference and it is subtle.”

50s

#AttentionShapesVision

“Every sacred voice, right, it competes with thousands of others coming in to us through our screens. Seeing is not as simple as it once was. It takes effort now. And not because God's moved farther away, but because so many other things are forming us into people who see certain things and miss others. So, one of my questions as we kind of move through this is what is your daily life forming you to see? And then I'm not asking what you're doing. Okay? We are all doing similar things. I'm not asking that. I'm asking something a little bit different. I'm asking this. What is what you're doing, doing to you?”

60s

#FaithBeyondUsefulness

“The mystery and the divine, the transcendent was teaching in her living room. The kingdom of God had walked through her front door, but all she could think about were place settings and bread timers, which are important. But I think at some point she was formed to believe that faithfulness was measured by usefulness. A faithful host notices the guests, take care of people, make sure they're happy, and none of that is wrong. None of it. But in this instance, it ended up consuming her attention and giving her anxiety and stress to the point where she was becoming resentful. Have you ever done something good and become resentful for it? Especially when you find you're the only one doing the good.”

68s

#AttentionDeterminesSight

“What forms our attention determines what we are able to see because attention is not passive. Alright? What receives our attention shapes our desires and our reactions and our character. So Martha was paying attention to some good things. She was serving Jesus. She was not evil. She was not a tyrant in the kitchen. She didn't even lack faith. In fact, one of the longest theological conversations is between Martha and Jesus in John chapter 11. More than anybody else that Jesus has conversations with, she's having he's having conversations with her. She's a deep thinker and very faithful. She's a a friend who loved Jesus and as the text says, welcomed her into her home. So she's a woman of means as well. Showing him deep hospitality, but for Martha, she was so wrapped up in doing something for Jesus that it's almost like she couldn't receive anything from Jesus.”

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