The Martha State

The Martha State

I’d be lying if I said I’m not a bit of a worrier.

But I’d also be lying if I said my worrying hasn’t calmed down—a great deal.

“Overjoyed” would be an understatement. I’m not in that place mentally anymore… but I’m also not quite where I want to be.

I can remember when it all started.

It felt like worry came out of nowhere—like it chose me. Like it saw me, came down, scooped me up, and attached itself to me without permission. And back then, my question was always why.

Why me?
Why now?
Why won’t it stop?

But I’ve learned something since then…

Why never took the worry away.

Back then, almost anything could disrupt my so-called peace. The smallest thought could send me into a whirlwind—overthinking, overanalyzing, overwhelmed. And the more I tried to understand why it was happening, the worse it got.

Because focusing on the “why” only fed the worry.

It didn’t free me from it.

So somewhere in the middle of all that mental noise, I came across something that shifted my understanding. Not the why… but the how.

Reflection

When I think about worry now, I can’t help but think about Martha.

Busy.
Distracted.
Carrying everything.

In Luke 10:41–42,  Yahushua says:

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one…”

That part… worried and upset about many things—that was me.

Living in what I now call The Martha State.

A state where your mind is constantly moving, constantly carrying, constantly trying to manage everything all at once.

But what stands out to me now isn’t just that Martha was worried…

It’s that she had a choice.

While Martha was consumed with doing, Mary of Bethany chose to sit.

To be still.
To listen.
To rest in His presence.

And that’s where the shift began for me—but it didn’t happen overnight.

I didn’t just wake up one day and stop worrying.

I had to learn how to come out of The Martha State.

And truthfully… I’m still learning.

The “How” — Coming Out of The Martha State

One of the first things I had to understand was this:

Worry isn’t just something that happens to you.
It’s something your mind learns to return to.

And if it can be learned… it can be unlearned.

That’s when scripture started hitting me differently.

Not just something to read… but something to apply.

In Philippians 4:6–7, it says:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…”

It doesn’t say ignore your worries.

It gives you somewhere to place them.

Because before, I was carrying everything in my own mind—replaying it, trying to solve it, trying to control it.

But I had never truly released it.

So I started small.

Instead of letting my thoughts run freely, I began to pause.

Not perfectly. Not every time. But intentionally.

When a worried thought came, instead of chasing it, I started questioning it:

Is this something I can control?
Is this happening right now… or just in my mind?

And if the answer was no… I had to learn to let it pass.

Not hold it.
Not build on it.
Not give it a story.

Just let it pass.

I also started praying differently.

Not long, perfect prayers… just honest ones.

“God, this is on my mind again.”
“I don’t want to carry this.”
“Help me release this.”

And slowly, I began to feel a shift.

Not because my situations always changed…

But because I wasn’t holding onto them the same way.

Another scripture that grounded me is in Matthew 6:34:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

That reminded me that most of my worry wasn’t even about today.

It was about what might happen.
What could go wrong.
What I wasn’t sure about.

I was exhausting myself living in days that hadn’t even come yet.

And then there was this reminder in 1 Peter 5:7:

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

Cast.

Not hold.
Not carry.
Not revisit.

Cast.

That means it was never mine to keep in the first place.

Closing Thought

What I’ve come to understand is this:

The Martha State isn’t just about being busy…

It’s about being mentally and emotionally consumed.

It’s choosing to carry what you were never meant to hold.

And the “how” of coming out of it isn’t about becoming someone who never worries…

It’s about becoming someone who knows what to do when worry shows up.

For me, that looks like:

  • Pausing instead of spiraling
  • Praying instead of overthinking
  • Releasing instead of holding on
  • Bringing myself back to right now instead of living in “what if”

And most importantly…

Choosing, daily, not to stay in The Martha State.     


-ToniRay

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