Distractions

Distractions. I felt the Lord whisper this one word to me a few years ago. Distractions. "Ok, I got it," I thought as I scribbled "distractions" in my prayer journal and went on my merry way. I had no idea how complex and heavy these distractions would be in my life over the next few years. Sometimes I immediately recognized the situation as a distraction, and other times, I fell apart and returned to God in frustration only to hear His reminder, "distractions." Ughhh, I fell for a distraction! 

What is a distraction?

dis·trac·tion

dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

 Any thing (action, person, situation) that prevents me from giving my full attention to Jesus is a distraction. Any thing. It doesn't have to be a "bad" thing. Any thing that takes my focus off of Jesus and consumes my time and attention is a distraction. So when I find myself frustrated by a situation, I remind myself that I am becoming distracted. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says,

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I love these verses. Here's my interpretation: While running this race of faith, we must get rid of distractions along with getting rid of sin, staying focused on Jesus, the One Who will get us through and is cheering us on!

Distractions are the weights that set us back. Of course we should avoid sin, but we should also avoid any other thing that takes our eyes off Jesus. I think the Author used "looking unto Jesus" because whatever we have our eyes on is what we are moving towards. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will be going the right direction and be able to avoid set-backs. 

Most of us have heard it said, "keep your eyes on Jesus." But how do you do that? By keeping your thoughts on Jesus. Read His Word. Meditate on His Word. Prayer should be first in the morning. Prayer should be in your heart throughout the day. If your mind drifts, your eyes drift. Refocus your mind and you'll be back on track. Jesus never changes. He never leaves us. We sometimes drift from Him, but He will always be there. A steady, guiding Light for us to focus on. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means not allowing oneself to spend excessive amounts of time or energy on something that isn't bringing us closer to Him. 

There is also a secondary definition of the word "distraction:"  

     2. extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.

Agitation means troubled, nervous, or perplexed. When our minds are agitated, we are distracted. When our emotions are agitated, we are distracted. Being troubled, perplexed, and anxious are signs that we are allowing distractions to take our mind and eyes off Jesus. 

Isaiah 26:3 says,

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

So there you have it; keep your mind on Him, dump distractions, and you will have perfect peace. No agitation. 

When life seems overwhelming and confusing, seek out what the distraction is and get rid of it! There is nothing like His peace! 

Many times over the last few years, I found myself struggling with less than positive emotions and realized I had let a distraction sneak in. My mind and energy was focused more on a distraction, things of this world, than it was on things above (Col 3:2).

God is so patient with us. If we get distracted, He's always waiting for us to refocus on Him. He's always there to pour His love on us and bring us peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:7). We don't have to understand our situation to have His peace. We just have to stay focused and ignore those distractions! 

Focus, Baby, Focus! (:

Not Really Lost

Recently I got stuck in traffic because of an accident that closed down the highway. I looked up an alternate route on the GPS and exited onto a back road. It appeared that everyone else had the same idea. Being new to the area, I decided to trust the GPS and stay on this route. The GPS said I was 3.8 miles from the school, which is where I was headed to pick up my kids, but I felt like I was crawling there with no idea where I was. 

Nothing looked familiar. 

I called a neighbor to get the kids for me, because I have horrible childhood memories of being the last one picked up from school. Thankfully she was free and agreed to help, which immediately relieved my stress. As soon as I hung up, the GPS had me make a right turn, and I suddenly recognized the back entrance to my neighborhood where the school is the located! I almost cried. Not because of the situation, but because of the spiritual application that immediately saturated my thoughts. I’m going through a lot right now. Ok, I’ve been going through “a lot” for about 4 years now. And recently I’ve been feeling like God put me in a test, this trial, and forgot where I was. Spiritually, I felt like I did physically.

Nothing in my life looks familiar.

I’ve been asking, well begging, for a breakthrough, something to show me that He wasn’t done with me. The exhaustion of the roller coaster emotions and juggling the daily tasks with additional stressful elements involved have been weighing so heavily lately. It’s been feeling like I’m going nowhere with this whole trial. What is happening in my life? Where is my life going? In that moment, the moment I trusted the GPS and made the right turn, I felt God showing me, with a physical illustration, that He knows right where I am and my trial is almost over. I’m much closer to the end than the beginning. It will all be over suddenly when He is ready to lead me to that point of the journey. Life doesn't look familiar to me, but it looks familiar to Him. Nothing is foreign to God. No situation, no circumstance, no issue- He knows what He is doing in the midst of it all. Nothing is hidden from Him, according to Hebrews 4:13.

Nothing is foreign to God.

Once again overwhelmed with emotion, I gave it all back to Him. As the tears flowed down my face, I surrendered all the struggles, all the fears, all the pain, all the exhaustion, again. I can trust that He knows right where I am, even though I don’t know where I am.

We must not allow ourselves to be blinded by what is right in front of us. We must remember how far we have come and persist in seeking out His will for our situation.  According to google, “A GPS or Global Positioning System is a network of orbiting satellites that send precise details of their position in space back to earth. The signals are obtained by GPS receivers, such as navigation devices and are used to calculate the exact position, speed and time at the vehicles location.” On our journey, we must seek out His signals, the Maker of the Globe. He is the Ultimate GPS! If we don’t obtain His signals and allow Him to guide us, it is so easy to get lost and feel abandoned or hopeless.

Allow His signals to lead you in whatever you are facing. Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us, “seek the Lord and you will find Him.” Psalm 34:10 says, “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Seek Him and when He sends you a signal, be an open receiver of His love and direction!