Putting Distractions in Their Place, Part 1

Episode Description

In this episode of Whole Life Worship, Cheryl Marshall is joined by Dr. Shelbi Cullen, Assistant Professor at The Master's University and seasoned biblical counselor, to discuss how to rightly order life’s responsibilities and distractions in devotion to God. Drawing from Dr. Shelbi Cullen’s new book, Steadfast in Every Season, and the biblical account of Mary and Martha from Luke 10, the conversation explores practical and spiritual strategies for Christian women who long to focus on Christ amidst their busy lives.

Key Topics

• Lessons from Hannah and Mary Magdalene: relying on God in seasons of distress
• Deep dive into the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)
• The significance of Mary’s posture of listening and devotion to Christ
• Practical steps to develop spiritual disciplines amidst busyness
• The importance of implementation and application in Bible study
• How silence and humility can reflect trust in God during conflict
• Biblical counseling approaches to spiritual growth

Key Takeaways

• True devotion to God means putting distractions in their proper place, not eliminating God-given responsibilities but rightly ordering them.
• Biblical women, such as Mary Magdalene and Hannah, modeled faithfulness in trying circumstances, illustrating that sadness and hardship can draw us closer to God rather than pull us away.
• Mary’s choice to sit at Jesus’ feet serves as a model of teachability, humility, and prioritizing communion with Christ over busyness.
• Spiritual disciplines, such as daily Bible reading, scripture meditation, and prayer, are best established gradually and adjusted to life’s seasons.
• Application, asking how to live out biblical truths in your current season, is crucial to spiritual transformation.
• Silent trust and humility in difficult situations can powerfully reflect faith and dependence on God.

Resources Mentioned

Key Verses:

Luke 10:38-42

John 12:1-8

Book: Steadfast in Every Season: Seeing God’s Faithfulness in the Lives of Women of the Bible by Dr. Shelbi Cullen. 

Techniques for practical Bible study: Discovering Wonderful Things worksheet, focusing on observation, interpretation, and application.

The Women’s Hope Podcast (co-hosted by Dr. Shelby Cullen)

Next Steps / Call to Action (CTA)

• Pick up a copy of Dr. Shelby Cullen’s book, Steadfast in Every Season.
• Cheryl’s Books:
• To order “All of Me”: https://www.cherylmarshall.com/books
• To order, “When Words Matter Most”: https://www.cherylmarshall.com/books
• Reflect: Consider which biblical character, or which lesson from this episode, most resonates with your current season.
• Start Small: Set aside time each day this week, even just 10 minutes, for intentional Bible reading and meditation.
• Apply & Pray: As you read, ask how you can implement God’s Word in your specific circumstances, and pray the Scriptures into your daily life.
• Subscribe & Share: Don’t forget to subscribe to Whole Life Worship, leave a review, and share this episode with friends who desire to grow in faithful devotion!
• Tune In Next Week: Join us for the second part of “Putting Distractions in Their Place” for more practical wisdom.
• Follow Cheryl Marshall:
• Instagram, Facebook, Substack, YouTube
• Subscribe to Cheryl’s Newsletter

Keep pursuing a life wholly devoted to God, without compromise, without comparison, in every circumstance.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to Whole Life Worship. This is Cheryl Marshall, and I'm so glad you're with us today as we pursue lives wholly devoted to God, without compromise, without comparison, in every circumstance. This is Whole Life Worship. Have you ever been in this situation? You have a very busy day ahead of you at home or at the office. And you think, okay, I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee and get to all the things I have to do. And you start doing all the things that need to be done, and a couple hours later you come back to the kitchen or to your desk at work, and there's your cup of coffee, cold and forgotten, and you never even took a sip of it. Sometimes the same type of thing happens in our lives spiritually, but the situation is much more serious and consequential. We rush around all day long without giving our attention to the Lord. We're distracted from seeking Him and from seeking His glory. In today's episode, we're going to explore what it looks like to put distractions in their place. Not necessarily to eliminate them. We have many God-given responsibilities that we need to fulfill, but how can we rightly order them in devotion to God? To help us answer that question, today we have a special guest with us, Shelby Cullen. Dr. Shelby Cullen serves as an assistant professor in the School of Biblical Studies at the Masters University, where she teaches courses in biblical counseling and women's ministries. She holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling from the Masters University and a Doctor of Educational Ministry from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She has been certified with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors since 2005. Shelby has been married to her husband Sean for 40 wonderful years, and together they have four grown children, four in-law children, and five delightful grandchildren. Shelby also serves in women's ministries and the biblical counseling ministry at her church. She's a co-host of the Women's Hope Podcast, a wonderful ministry devoted to offering biblical and practical wisdom to help women grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And I invited Shelby to be with us today because she has a new book titled Steadfast in Every Season: Seeing God's Faithfulness in the Lives of Women of the Bible. And one of the chapters in the book directly addresses today's topic, so much so that the chapter is titled Martha and Mary's Faithfulness Amidst Distraction. I encourage you to pick up her book and you'll find the link in the show notes. And so without further ado, welcome, Shelby. Glad you're with us today.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Thank you, Cheryl. So happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Thank you. I'm thankful that you're joining us because of this important topic of putting distractions in their proper place. And I know you've given a lot of thought to it. So before we jump into our topic, I was thinking about this earlier, and I was trying to figure out how many years we've known each other because it just sort of seems like we've morphed into knowing each other. And so what do you think? How many years has it maybe been?

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Well, I think as I reflect back on our friendship, I know that I've run into you many times at ACBC conference, and I think maybe that's because your mom wanted me to look for you initially. Because you were already in Texas, but I knew your mom at my church before she moved out to your area. And then after that, you were friends and are friends, of course, with our mutual friend Caroline Newheiser. And I think we became more acquainted, better acquainted as you were writing your first book.

unknown 3:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

So how when did what year did you produce your book?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

That probably would be a good that was about five years ago. And so I wrote that with Caroline, and I knew that you were a good friend of hers. And then last year you also came out for the conference, for the women's conference at our church. And so just to let our listeners know, if you ever need a speaker, you can invite Shelby and you will not be disappointed. So she was a great blessing to the women at our church. So that our listeners can get to know you a little bit more. Can you tell us how you came to know the Lord?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Oh, yeah, what a great question. I so my husband and I, I'm originally from Albuquerque and I moved out to California in my young 20s. And what my husband was here, we were dating, but he was here already. And after we got married, we started having children right away. We were renting at the time. And my husband, when we were pregnant with our third child, he he said it's time to buy our first home. And so we bought our first home. And as the Lord would have it, right next door to someone that was very eager and ready to share the gospel with us. So my neighbor made friends with us right away. It was an easy friendship because she had three children as well. So she kind of had an in. And she just friendship evangelism at its heart with her for sure. Shared her life, shared the Lord, invited me to church, invited me to everything, really. I went to a lot of things as an unbeliever, like women's ministry events that she would invite me to, or, or maybe events that involved mommy and me. So I heard the gospel very consistently, very well. And I always thanked the Lord for bringing someone in my life that actually was part of a very solid church because I could have gone so many different ways. And I think just over the course of time through consistent Christian living and hearing the gospel presented multiple times, including hearing it from the pulpit, God in his kindness just granted me repentance, probably about 10 months to a year in, and very clearly understood that I was a sinner. Probably struggled a little bit with why would Jesus want to die for me, but I worked through that pretty quickly and understood that he died for my sin, past, present, and future, and that he atoned for that through his shed blood on the cross, that he died and was buried and rose again on the third day. And so I think the gospel was just so clearly presented. I just really thanked the Lord for that. And so I was able to repent of my sinful life and just place my faith in that finished work of Christ. And then my husband, in God's kindness, allowed him and just chose to save him about a year later. And so the neat thing is the women that were really my neighbor plus a couple of other women that were evangelizing me were also discipling me and kind of helped me to understand how to be an unequally yoked woman there for a while and how to handle that whole dynamic. And yeah, God and his kindness just used that. So it's a that's the real short version of it. But I I see all these years later, because it's been 34 years, I see all these years later God's providence and every single part of that because I didn't come from a believing household. I was saved at 29 and so lived a lot of life um in the world before God saved me. And so you can only you can only give God the credit for that because you know I just wouldn't have been seeking that at all. I wasn't seeking that, let's just put it that way.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Right. Yeah. God is so gracious.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

And it sounds like he was very gracious to you during that time when your husband was not a believer yet. Is there anything you can share with maybe if we have a listener who's in that situation, any word of encouragement that you may want to give her?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, for sure. I mean, of course, part of it's just reflection of being a believer for a long time. But back then I was really counseled not to, I don't know, how do you say it, try to argue my husband into the kingdom or, you know, leave out tracks or, you know, be really because you're so you're so excited about being a believer. You know, it's hard not to be in someone's face about it 24-7. But I think that the counsel was just to remain faithful, to attend church faithfully, bring the kiddos, just really begin to live a life that was sold out for the Lord, counting the cost, praying for Sean, hoping that the Lord would save him, sharing the gospel through my life, hopefully, my changed behavior because I wasn't the easiest person to live with. We had been married six years at that point, six or seven, and I was kind of somewhat of a contentious woman. So just hoping that I could win him without a word, so to speak, I was counseled so faithfully and well. And um, he did see a change, and he did say in his testimony, he says he felt terribly lonely on Sunday when I would leave to go to church. And he had been brought up by faithful Catholic parents, you know, he's got that whole background, but he just felt that he wanted to be with the family. So the Lord used the family dynamic to get him to church and then, of course, heard the gospel preached so faithfully at the at our church at that time. And so, yeah, that that was pretty amazing. He would have told, he would tell you he didn't object to me going to church because I needed to go to church. So if that gives you any indication of what kind of person I was.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Wow. Well, praise the Lord for that. Just such a wonderful story of how he's worked in both of your lives. And I know that your family and those around you have been so blessed by God's grace. So thank you for sharing that. So well, about your book, Steadfast in Every Season, it provides us with a lot of encouragement and many examples from the lives of several women in the Bible. I read through it and found it so encouraging, but I also was encouraged by how it focuses on the faithfulness of God to us in every season and in every circumstance. And so, can you tell us a little bit about the book and what led you to write it?

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Sure. Well, about the book, I wanted to firstly, well, first, probably back up a little bit. I've been a biblical counselor for 20 plus years. So I've got a lot of experience counseling women that just go through really, really hard things. And when you are counseling someone to stay faithful amidst their difficult trying time, you've got to have examples to point to. And as I'm studying the scriptures, I'm realizing wow, these women that I'm learning about are going through so much. And it be it especially became a highlight for me when I started studying various, just I guess, historical backgrounds of some of those women. So, for example, the first section that I write about are the three women that lived during the time of Judges. I wrote about Deborah, Ruth, and Hannah, actually. And so I think what was remarkable for me is realizing that they lived in one of the most difficult times in Israel's history, like so horribly bad, because I studied Judges and I it just dawned on me, wow, this is something. And yet these women are completely noted for faithfulness in different ways. And so I wanted to have a way to first of all encourage my own heart in that, but also to have an illustration, a biblical illustration, you know, one that that God is showing us of women who are faithful during just complete turmoil and craziness and then going on around them. So that was one reason. So that's really the premise of the book is to start with looking at the era that the women lived in, like judges. And then I took three women from the era of when Jesus was walking upon the earth and then the church age, and just wanted to show that these are real women in real time. These aren't just made-up narratives, just stories, but these are real people who love the Lord, follow the Lord, and just their faithfulness throughout. And then, of course, because of the biblical counseling background, it has to go beyond just explaining the text to you and helping you to understand what's going on in context. But I've I always include applicationslash implementation questions because I want you to understand the text, but I also want you to apply it. And so it was a real blessing. I'm hoping I can write more. That's my plan. I just honed in on, you know, nine examples this time, but I'm hoping that the Lord will give me an opportunity to write about it more because I'm completely fascinated and captivated by how the Lord used people in his word just to show us that even though life is just completely out of control and a mess in your society or whatever, you can still remain faithful to the Lord and He's the one that helps you, you know. I mean, that's just so evident. So that's kind of the short end of it. But yeah, totally enjoyed doing that, writing that, and really was encouraging to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

So as you were writing about these different women, was there one of them in particular who stood out to you that you really identified with her? And if so, was there anything that you found particularly encouraging from her life or challenging for you?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah, that's a that's a great question. I I would say probably Hannah's had a profound impact on me. I've looked at her and read her and thought about her for years because here you've got a woman that's just such in extreme dire straits, both at home and in her society. And she's such a woman of her example, is one of a woman who is so devoted to the Lord that she that God uses her sadness to drive her to him. And I think that kind of had an impact on me because I noticed that in the world, the world seems to be saying that sad is bad. But scripture seems to be showing us that sad can drive you to him. And even though things are just seemingly falling apart, you can go to him in in spirit and in truth, right? And you can pour your heart out to him. And that seems to be a consistent counsel, anyway, through the scriptures, that we are able to draw near to him and come to his throne of grace and find help in our time of need. So that that had a big impact on me just in terms of her posture in a very, very difficult time period. But the other one, amazingly enough, that I really, really enjoyed and was pleasantly surprised because I didn't know a lot about her, other than what you hear, is Mary Magdalene. I I would say the way I identify with her is I didn't have seven demons before I was saved, but you could say easily that God in his kindness saved me out of so much difficulty. A lot, really difficult background. And I think that in the same way, well, the way Mary is portrayed, she's been saved, and you just see her in the background following Christ wherever he's going, all the way to the cross. And a lot of the time she's in the background, but she's also kind of highlighted as someone that's even supporting Christ through her means, you know. So she was a she was a pleasant surprise to me. I think she's portrayed as even a prostitute at times. I don't think she's taught rightly. So when I was able to dig deep into her life, I realized, wow, there is more here than I realized about her life. And it is so different than what I've ever heard, really, necessarily. So that that was just, I just really loved learning about her. So yeah, I would say that she just encouraged me. I was thinking about just how much Jesus loves women anyway, and how he would have these followers like her that were just always there and available and always serving him, you know. So she's a great example of someone that's so grateful, I would say, of being saved out of such difficult circumstances. I can't even imagine. I was trying to imagine what being possessed by seven demons would be like, but we just know that it's just really hard, right? So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Well, that's great. We don't hear a whole lot about her. We don't hear a lot of sermons about her, so that is wonderful. Yeah, so good. If you want to grow as a whole life worshiper, my new book, All of Me, Pursuing a Life Fully Devoted to God, was written especially for you. It's available through major booksellers and the link in the show notes. So let's turn our attention now to Martha and Mary. And this story of these two sisters is in Luke 10, and it's a well-known story, and I think one of the reasons for that is that it highlights a tension that many Christian women feel. They have a heart that they want to be focused on Christ, yet they're in very busy times, very busy days. And how do they do that well? How do they focus on the Lord amidst all the distractions that come up? So before we get into our questions, I'm just going to read their story in Luke 10, 38 through 42. And the passage says, Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house, and she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not be taken away from her. So again, that is Luke 10, 38 through 42. So as we begin this conversation about how to put the distractions in their proper place as we seek to be women who worship the Lord with all that we are, I'd like us to focus on each of the characters. We have Mary, and then we have Martha, and then we have Jesus. So let's begin with Mary. And so we see in this passage that Jesus enters the home, he's sitting with the disciples and talking, and they're waiting for the meal that's being prepared. And instead of helping with the meal prep, Mary sits down right in front of Jesus and is listening to him. So talk to us about what Mary's doing. Was her behavior expected? What does this tell us about Mary? What was the significance of what was going on here?

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Yeah, it's well, firstly, probably culturally, I mean, this is a husband this is a hospitality culture. So I think just culturally speaking, what would have been expected actually probably would be more that Mary would be helping Martha with the meal prep. But what is happening here is that Mary understands the importance of the occasion, we could say, because we know the end of the story. And she is sitting at Jesus' feet in a in a posture of disciple. I mean, because back then in that culture, you would sit at your rabbis' feet to learn from them. So there's some of that going on. And she is her priority, we could say, in that moment is Christ and his word. And she's just being shepherded, taking in all that Jesus is teaching there. You can tell that that's a priority. But yeah, probably key notes on that would be she's sitting at his feet, taking on the role of a disciple and taking in his word.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

So today, as we live in a culture that prizes productivity and busyness, how can Christian women whose lives are full with managing their homes and caring for their families and maybe working in a career, how can they develop Mary's posture of listening to the Lord and truly delighting in him with all that they have going on?

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. I think we just live in a very busy society, but I do believe that that kind of posture, that kind of discipline probably begins with realizing who you're serving, that Jesus is our Lord. And so that kind of heart attitude really begins, I think, with just understanding the weightiness of who we are serving. Also realizing that we we are in union with Christ because we are believers, and so this is to the believer, of course, but we also are called to commune with Christ. And part of communing with Christ is just spending time with him. And so I think when I counsel women about how do you build that into your life if it's so busy, albeit a worker at home, a worker outside of the home, all the different things that we're called to do, with him in mind is the priority. I think it just begins with how you're gonna spend your time with him. Are you gonna be able to spend time with him? Maybe for you, it's just I have to establish a discipline that begins in the morning, and I'm in his word, which of course that would be primary, right? Because that shapes our thinking, that shapes our life. And, you know, from there, hopefully it lends itself towards prayer, you know, praying through the scriptures, praying for particular things that you need to pray for. But the thing is, you have to kind of think through what is your season in life? Are you even able? Because scripture doesn't say that you have to do this in the morning. You might be a person who is more of an evening person. I've met all kinds of people that are very faithful with their communion with Christ, but it doesn't always look the same. So I think the the message, especially as you think of like Psalm 1, is just continuity of doing it daily. Are you meditating on God and His Word night and day? Meaning, is it just a fabric of your life, you know? So I think like if I were to meet with someone that just wanted to implement this into their life and they aren't in the habit, I usually say Start small and I just say spend time with Christ in His Word. I would give them probably a particular thing to read and just start with 10 minutes each day this week. And then as you establish that in your life, next time we meet, we're going to up that to maybe 20 minutes or a half an hour. You know, it's like a muscle. When you've been out of the habit of spiritual disciplines, it's definitely like a muscle. You have to reorient yourself, firstly, by just realizing who you are. You're a dependent creature. Anyway, you can't do this all on your own. You need the Lord's help. Isn't that what John 15 teaches us? Anyway, apart from him, we can do nothing. And in order to bear fruit, we must spend time with him. And so just being able to start small and then being consistent, building from there. But the the word reading the word of God is going to be the priority. Having something to guide that reading would be helpful. You know, I mean, I have lots of students that read the Bible, but are they studying it? I don't know. You know, usually they stop short of I read a proverb a day and whatever. And I'm like, yeah, that's good, but that's not enough. Let's get a little deeper than that. Let's let's let me challenge you. Let's do first John, you know, or something like that. But yeah, I think the continuity is important. It's part of just being a believer. He is the priority. And I think that's what Mary's modeling. I think that's what Luke is trying to show us that Jesus needs to be the priority. Yeah, not much more to say. There's other things you can add to devotions and spiritual disciplines. You can add music, you can add just prayer reading, like Valley of Vision or something like that. But it's got to be something there that is causing your heart to reorient towards Christ. He wants us in the word, you know. I mean, I can't imagine life without that. He's gracious enough to give us his word. What was the point?

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

It reminds me of the theme verse of for this podcast, which is Romans 12:1. Yes. And this 12.1 and 2. Verse 2 saying, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And of course, that comes through hearing the word of Christ. And as you said, communing with Him. So a question I have for you on that. Let's say there's a woman who's reading the scriptures 10 minutes, 15, 20. Is there anything you would tell her to be thinking about or seeking, or any questions to be bringing to the scriptures to help her take it in to digest it as she's working through God's word or reading through it?

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, I think that's important. It's we we seem to miss the implementation factor of study anyway. So it really depends on what they're seeking after. So let's say we have a woman who is really struggling with identity. She finds identity in everything but Christ, right? And she's a believer. And so my goal would be to get her in Ephesians right away. We would go through Ephesians together, and I would have her read probably a chapter a week. I would assume that our discipleship would be weekly. And so she would read through, I would encourage her to read through the scripture first and then go back, and I would have her just pull out different maybe keywords that she wants to define, or I would help her pull out what the scripture is saying about how it's characterizing the Lord, which would be probably just primarily very important, what it's saying about God, what it's saying about Jesus, or God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And I think that you can help a person observe, you can help them interpret to a point that way, but then you really have to help them to see the value of application. So in light of all these things that you've learned, how are you going to apply this today? And not just generally speaking, but how are you going to apply or implement the truth in your season of life right now? So there's a way you can guide a person through scripture. I think it's a healthy way to teach somebody. If I were to tell her just to read, it's not that just reading Ephesians chapters one to six is a bad thing, but I don't think it is as renewing or as effective a person's life as really studying deeply in context and then applying what you're learning. So there is a way to guide somebody, and that's usually what I will do. I will just give them something to guide them along the way. You know, we used to I teach my students to use what we call a discovering wonderful things worksheet. Some people call it a dig sheet, but it's just kind of teaching them the principles in a layperson's way of hermeneutics, really observation, interpretation, application. And then you pray it back to God. The other thing that's important to include, because I just from Psalm 119, when it talks about how can a young man keep his way pure by treasuring his word in your heart, I know, just biblically speaking, that the word of God is our best defense against encroaching sin. So I'm also going to have them treasure God's word in their heart through memory. I'm going to have them, whatever we're studying together, I'll pull something from that and have them just memorize that scripture and apply it as well. And even teach them the art of meditation, which I think is a dying discipline anyway. But it's something that's so, so important. Thinking on God's truth throughout the day for yourself. That's what the Holy Spirit uses to help us make decisions and anything we're facing. So I'm very, very big on implementation. Yeah, that's just been that's probably been my life for the last 20 plus, you know. So yeah, concrete help help in that way.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Yeah, that's wonderful. Something that's become very dear to me over the last several years is actually praying through the scriptures. Yeah. So not just not just the Psalms, but let's say I'm reading some other passage of scripture and there's something there that the Lord is teaching me, just taking time to pray through that. I think there's a form of meditation in that as well, so that we carry it into our day. It's so easy to just read quickly and then go into our distractions and and not be thoughtful of the Lord or of his truth for us. So that's really helpful. So I have another question about Mary, and this is a question I've never heard discussed. Maybe you have, but I'd like to know your thoughts. In this passage, there's no record of Mary speaking. She's quiet. You don't hear her defending herself, she doesn't invite Martha to sit down with her. And we know that in the biblical narratives, we can learn a lot about characters by what they do and don't do, but sometimes we learn about them from what they don't do and what they don't say. And so, do you think there's anything significant for us to learn from Mary in her silence here? Or do you think that's just a mute point?

SPEAKER_00 28:55

No, I don't think it's a mute point. I I think I think her character of sitting at Jesus' feet shows us that we need to be teachable. I think I think it's a complete, I think it's a complete to me, it's very loud and clear that there's humility involved here and teachability. She's not, she's not even, I think what's kind of interesting is she's not even irritated with Martha for being bothered at her, right? So she is just content to sit at Jesus' word because she knows it's he is the most important priority at the moment. So for me, the takeaway would be am I teachable? Am I humble? Do I always have to have the last word? It's kind of a picture of meekness, strength under control in a lot of ways. I know later in in John, uh about a year later, when she's on the scene again at another dinner, that Mary is worshiping Christ through just anointing his feet and you know, drying his feet off with her hair. And that's just complete extravagant worship there. So there's just worship going on in the inner man, and it's out of the heart the mouse speaks, and it's being reflected in her life here through her humility and I think teachability. So that's how I would take that.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Yes. Yeah, that's good. I as I was thinking about it, I was thinking of of the tension that could arise between her and her sister, and yet we don't hear that or see that reflected in her. And I was just wondering if there's an element of resting in the Lord, that the Lord is taking care of this situation, and I'm not the one who has to fix it, you know, like just resting in his oversight of the situation of what's unfolding in front of me. So that was just a thought I had as well.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Well, it probably is true. It's it's probably true because even in the the John 12 narrative, Judas is the one that's creating a lot of problems. And and so Mary's being humiliated in a sense by two people in both of those narratives, and she's not saying anything. So you kind of get this element of she's trusting, you know. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Right. And I guess we do that better the more we sit at his feet, right? Well, I hope you've enjoyed the first half of this conversation with Shelby Cullen. Please join us next week for part two of putting distractions in their place. Thank you for listening to this episode. I invite you to please review, subscribe, and share, and keep pursuing a life wholly devoted to God, without compromise, without comparison in every circumstance. This is Whole Life Worship.