Let’s talk about distraction. Let’s be real, this is a topic that is all around us and something we all deal with on a daily basis. We live in a very fast paced world where everything is done in the moment. I have thought back on history and thought to myself ‘it must have been easy to focus on God then because there weren’t so many distractions.’ But then I read my bible and realize they had so much to be doing. I mean let’s think together, they had to hunt for their food, they have to walk everywhere they needed to go, take care of their animals, their children, sleep on floors (I am sure that didn’t provide a great night’s rest), they had enemies to fight off, sickness, disease to worry about, the list could go one and on. So, we can see that no people who lived long ago may not have had the fast-paced lifestyle we have today, but they had so much to do in their day to day lives just to stay alive. Our lives are so much easier for us today. We can go to the grocery store and buy anything and everything we need in order to live an easy life. We are blessed to have options at our fingertips. We can make phone calls to get a message across quickly, jump in our cars to get somewhere fast, get on our phones and know exactly what is happening in the world around us. Our world is easy in a lot of ways. But then we have to deal with so much information in our minds at a time. We get easily overwhelmed, that is why we have so many cases of depression these days, suicides are at an all-time high, people are simply dealing with too many distractions.
But God tells us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” God is here to help us, to be our peace, to be a strong tower we can run to in our time of overwhelming thoughts. Distractions will always be here. We will always have to make time to be with God. The world is not going to stop going everyday around 7am just to give us time to talk with God for a little while. Doing that is on us. The information we receive and take in on a daily basis is up to us to slow down. We can do this by turning off our phones, laying them down, putting them out of our reach for a while every day. It’s a choice. Distractions may always be around us, but we can minimize them and choose to make a time for God in our everyday.
Finding a time of peace in our day will greatly increase our peace of mind. God is our peace, therefore running to Him will strengthen us, giving our minds a break from the world around us, all the hustle and bustle, all the talking, gossip, stress from our jobs, schools, family. Taking a time to talk with God will help guide us throughout our day. God knows how much distraction we deal with on a daily basis, and he understands but He wants for us to make time for Him. He wants to be chosen daily no matter what is going on around us. He wants this because He knows what He has to offer to us. Making time for God is not going to stress us out more. I guarantee you will not stand up and walk away from your time with God feeling more overwhelmed, more stressed, or like you have just wasted your time. God will fill you in that time with understanding, peace, and strength. Your prayer time with God will help you to conquer everything that happens in your day. Putting on the full armor of God will strengthen your life and will prepare you for whatever this world throws your way. A peace that passes all understanding will fall on you in times where you have no idea what to do about a situation in your life. God wishes for us to lay our troubles at His feet. He wants for us to come to Him with our problems in order that He can lift the burden from us and give us peace in place of it.
The distractions of this world, whether in the past, our lifetime, or the time to come, will always be present. But so will God. The God of peace, strength, life, joy, protection, provision, the beginning and the end. And when we choose Him, there is no distraction in the world that can slow us down. We all have a choice to make every day, let the distractions of this world overwhelm us and trudge through life by ourselves or taking time out of our day to allow God to walk with us and guide us. Don’t let distraction become your choice. Run to God. Choose Him.
He Gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and Wings.
