“Lord, Please help me! I am feeling so distracted.”
If you were to look I my journal over the last few months that simple prayer is exactly what is repeated dozens of times! But Monday night I was left holding a lot of wasted time and nothing else. I spent an entire afternoon looking for something that I didn’t really need. and what hit me right square in the face was that I had let this simple thing distract me…from a good deal, Let me Explain…
Eyes Wide open to Distraction: My Play Notebook
Back in April or May, I began to frantically write- write like I haven’t done in over a year. I was working on our churches Christmas play I had decided to write. That book never left my side for nearly 3 months and then I took my infamous writing trip. You know the one that I got pneumonia and hubby had to come and get me early because I was sooooo stinking sick!!! Well I know I had it with me there BUT when I came home, I’m not the one who emptied the truck and I honestly don’t remember putting my stuff away (I’m the only one who would in the case of my personal writing stuff). So it has been unaccounted for since the end of July.
I didn’t take it back with us in August because I knew that I would have no time because a large chunk of that time was spent hanging out with friends and family. We came back home and two of our kiddos jumped right into school the next day. Then the other two and we won’t even go into the drama that ensued with that experience.
We have finally set into a routine and I have a plan to accomplish the play and some other things. I could have sworn I put it in my craft room- but it is GONE. Thankfully as I have written the play I have sent pictures of the written play to my stage manager by text. So Monday I printed them out. Monday afternoon I put them in my writing notebook and I was all ready to sit down and blog HOWEVER about 1 o’clock something in my brain switched and I went on a massive hunt throughout our whole house seeking out this notebook…..THAT I ALREADY HAD ALL THE INFO OUT OF! I had to stop searching to make dinner and I was grumpy. After dinner I sat down here and my desk and I flipped through my devotional book I have been working on (I was behind in) and my fingers HIT the lone page flag sticking out of the side and I knew exactly what the page flag said “DISTRACTED”. and I knew EXACTLY what verse was on that page
Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your Soul, and with all your might.
BAM!! I prayed right then and there and asked God to help me yet again to fight the distraction I was getting caught up in. BUT don’t think for a moment that some silly notebook has been all that has been distracting me.
A Million and One Distractions
NO, I am NOT going to list them all here. But for each one of us, distractions can look completely different. From one moment to the next it can look different for me.
Let’s start with defining what it actually means to be distracted!
DISTRACTED
adjective
1. unable to concentrate because one’s mind is preoccupied.
Did you catch that? According to Deuteronomy 6:5, I’m supposed to be loving God with all my mind- focused on him. devoted to him. When I am distracted am I loving God with all of my mind? I know I am not.
Here are just a few examples of my distractions in the past:
Phone: ok ok if we are honest we all sometimes run to our phone as an on-purpose distraction. Yes, you read that right. We ACTIVELY chose to be distracted. This can be a good thing OR a very bad thing. And the major question we need to ask ourselves is this: Is what I’m doing right now helping me in some way or is it keeping me from doing what God has called me to do?
Relationships: yeah this one can lead to all sorts of distractions. Whether it be our kids, our spouse (oh yeah you read that right ) friends, co-workers, boyfriends/girlfriends. those who dislike us…Honestly, I picked the closest people in most situations.
The problem of relationships is when the relationship distracts you from what God has called you to do. And that number one calling is to OBEY God and to turn AWAY from sin. So if ANY relationship is asking you to sin we need to guard against that type of distraction.
However. there are other ways relationships can become a distraction. What if the relationship wants you to neglect your responsibilities? I have people in my life who have chosen abusive spouses/boyfriends/ girlfriends over the safety of their children. It is incredibly hard to watch someone be OK with CPS because they can’t let go of the boyfriend. (Thankfully this has recently changed).
There are those who neglect their marriage for their kids or their job or friends or…..you fill in the blank!
Circumstances- (This one is huge for me). I have come to the realization that it takes extra work on my part in being devoted to God during hard circumstances. Now y HARD I don’t necessarily mean only those that are sad or depressing. For me, it can mean in those moments of being tired- exhausted. Mentally, emotionally and physically. If I take my focus off of God during these times and stop loving him with everything I’ve got, THAT”S when the fiery darts start coming in rapid succession.
I fully believe it is Satan’s goal to get me to that place. When I reach the point of exhaustion and those darts start coming I can no longer batter against the enemy and I am left feeling like a failure, not being able to give anything.
Busy-ness- This one goes hand in hand with circumstances but can have a different attitude behind it. We often get so wrapped up in the doing (our to-do list- OUCH) that we forget what our purpose is. (yep you guessed to love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart Soul and Mind.). Don’t get me wrong you can get plenty done off your to-do list and not be distracted from your purpose, that’s where 1 Corinthians 10:31 comes in ” whatever do all to the Glory of God (My paraphrase).
I picked a few. I told you I was not going to write an exhaustive list. If you find Yourself saying not today Lord because._______________. You really need to re-evaluate what you are doing and why. If something is keeping you from spending time with God ask yourself why and ask God to show you what is standing between you and him. He wants nothing more to answer that question. But I will warn you (only because I’m speaking from experience) it’s gonna hurt. We are blinded sometimes by our own desires and rights – but it’s that willingness to let Jesus be Lord of our life that brings us closer to him.
Combatting the distractions: How do we love the Lord with everything we’ve Got?
Ya know it’s funny because everyone wants a to-do list that they can just check off and say “Ok, I’ve done A, B, and C. Now I’m not distracted anymore. I hate to say it but it does not look like that. It’s not about doing more stuff. In fact for some of us- THAT”S what got us here, to begin with. Instead, it’s a change of attitude and a shift in focus.
The first focus shift should really be towards PRAYER. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. This isn’t about 24/7 prayer it’s more like having a constant conversation with someone.
if you were to look on my phone you would see this text thread. It has 3 other people in it and honestly, it’s never really far from the top. Why? because we check in with each other. sometimes it’s a funny story, somedays it starts out in a REALLY strange place and ends in the serious, I need prayer moments. THAT”S what God wants from us. An ongoing conversation. He wants to hear our funny stories, our happy moments and our struggles. He wants us to say Thank you Lord when something amazing happens.
The next focus change really comes from a heart of wanting to be more Christ-centered in our daily walk. This is Taking that to-do list and set it on the back burner. I have come to a place in my life where I have realized I can’t just get ride f the to-do list BUT I can give it to God and allow him to modify it. This is hard but when I keep the idea in the back of my head that I might have some holy interruptions is keeps me from having bitterness and anger when things don’t go my way.
Another focus change we need to make it taking our eyes off of us and putting them on what God has told us to do. When we get wrapped up in MY rights, MY beliefs, MY goals, My Dreams, My____________If you are putting My in front of something chances are it’s a distraction. As a believer, we have surrendered our “rights”. We have yielded our opinions and we should come to a place of not my will but yours, Lord.” I know I posted about last year in my influence series BUT Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross. That’s why He asked God to “Let this cup pass from me”. I don’t know about you, but I fight against wanting my rights every day. I want the injustices-especially against me fixed. I want to say some days “Lord that verse is so outdated, surely that can’t be for me”. But the reality is…it is. Whether I like it or not. Having a submissive attitude to God changes our focus and removes distractions this world bombards us with. Because I am MY biggest distraction!
And the last thing that is probably the biggest we females deal with (I know it’s incredibly hard for me). is making it a practice to turn to God when problems strike instead of turning to people. We need to trust God with everything we have got. This is so hard because at times we can convince ourselves that God isn’t listening, he doesn’t care and /or he isn’t doing it fast enough! Yep, I am a fixer by nature. I want to just take control and figure it all out. This type of attitude though doesn’t make me focus on God more it makes me put the focus on ME- Again I am MY biggest distraction.
BUT I’m not you and You Aren’t Me (not the same distractions)
I mean seriously, like I had to say that (Sorry I am the master of the obvious sometimes). But in all seriousness, we often think well, that worked for her so I am going to adapt it for myself. Then we get frustrated when it doesn’t work. the problem with that is your struggles with distraction might be different than mine, or they might appear the same on the outside but the reality is the root of the distraction is VERY different. So then what?
Well, we need to begin somewhere and that somewhere happens to be at the feet of Jesus. We need to be willing to do the hard heart work with Him. We need to let him show us where to start and how to change our focus.
Are you willing to start there?
So about that Missing play notebook?
It was serving as a distraction. I was distracted by a silly notebook that I had ALL the info out of.
The long and the short of it is this: It didn’t matter. Most things that distract us, don’t matter. There are big things that keep us distracted too. But at this point, I had to let the notebook go. And I have. And ya know what- it was freeing and I have been far more focused on the things I am supposed to be focused on. I still get twinges of angst over not knowing where it is. and I just keep giving it to God. I have all the important stuff out of it.
I have let it go. I’m not holding onto it.
What are you holding onto? It’s time to let it go.
NOW it’s your turn
What is your biggest distraction? Let me know in the comments!
