As women, we’ve been programmed to be helpers. We’ve been conditioned by society to try to assist others when we see them struggling or in distress. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as we draw boundaries and stick by them. The trouble starts when we go overboard and take on other people’s drama.
Sometimes life dumps drama in our lap that’s unavoidable. This happened with Joseph when he was minding his own business and suddenly his brothers threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery. This started a chain of events that led to him eventually serving in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar’s wife lying about him and causing him to get thrown in prison, and Joseph being forgotten there for two whole years. That’s enough drama for ten people!
Other times, we get so wrapped up with trying to help someone that we get too involved and suddenly their drama becomes our drama. This happens when can’t mind our own business and we become sponges that soak up other people’s problems. We get overwhelmed that way and lose the ability to help anyone. There’s a reason God tells us to set boundaries for ourselves and others; forgetting those boundaries destroys our peace and brings us into stress and frustration.
Creating our own drama because our expectations don’t line up with someone else’s causes us agitation. This was what happened when Martha fussed to Jesus about her sister Mary when Jesus came to visit them. Mary chilled out and simply received from Him; her behavior didn’t sit well with Martha, who expected her sister to drop everything and come help her in the kitchen. Between Joseph and his brothers, and sisters Martha and Mary, we see that there’s no drama that can escalate like family drama.
I remember reading something from William Shakespeare who wrote that all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are simply players. Drama is an expression of emotion and passion, and relates to people who overreact or greatly exaggerate the importance of small events. Martha could fit in that category; she was quite the drama queen. She focused on the one thing she didn’t like, exaggerated it, and ran with it.
Making mountains out of molehills is exhausting! People who routinely blow something insignificant all out of proportion are drama magnets. Being around these people is unsettling and unnerving because there’s always some big, dramatic thing going on with them. They make everything that happens all about them; we don’t need to be around these kinds of human energy-drainers.
Drama is like a dark cloud circling and trying to find someone to envelop. What should we do when it finds us? We must ask ourselves if we’re creating it by bringing excessive attention to the situation simply to put the spotlight on ourselves. Are we drama addicts crisis-hopping from one thing to the next?
Ladies, we all know how tiring drama is. Life’s too short for that. If we’re tired and worn out, Jesus tells us to get away with Him so we can recover our lives. He’ll show us how to take a real rest.
I like the way Jesus’ invitation is worded in the Message Translation because we’ve all felt that way and we can identify with it. To keep the drama from getting too heavy for us, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit telling us when to get involved and when to pull back. We become ineffective if we’re too exhausted from never-ending drama. Draw that boundary line and fiercely guard it.
