Distracted is a Dangerous Place to Be
Distracted is a Dangerous Place to Be
Are you distracted? Have you been distracted for a little while or for a really long time? Whether you are busy, bored or burdened - distracted is a dangerous place to be. We know that distracted driving is dangerous, but what about distracted living? What impact does that have on our lives, our future and our legacy?
I believe that all of us reading this would answer the question “What is most important?” the same. We would say – “Our relationship with Jesus matters most! Knowing Him and sharing Him with others is of the utmost importance.” I believe that we all know that when our time here is done and we stand before God it is only what we have done for Him that will count. Well, we know that…but do we live like we know that…or are we dangerously distracted? Oh, distracted is a dangerous place to be.
If you are distracted, my guess is that you fall into one of three categories…
Too Busy!
Why do we do this to ourselves? We pile so much up on our platter – not plate – platter that we hardly have time to sleep. We might squeeze in what we call our quite time by reading a devotional here or there – but minutes afterward we have no idea what we read. Our mind is too full. We are too distracted by the long, long, very long list of items on our ‘To Do’ list.
Bored!
We do not like that word. In today’s society the world screams, “Bored? Who has time to be bored?” When we find ourselves piled up in a heap staring aimlessly at the television, spend hours reading about other people’s lives on social media or play video games for hours on end while our ‘To Do’ list sits and waits for something to be marked off – we are bored. God calls this complacent…lukewarm. We just are not interested enough to focus on what God has for us. We will do that later.
Burdened
Sometimes what burdens us exhausts us to the point of inactivity. We can become so overwhelmed by our struggles that we are stuck in the mire. We focus on all that is wrong. Even though we need to look up more than ever – we just keep looking down in our despair. We are weighed down with our heavy load.
Did you find yourself on this list? You see, Satan is cunning. He does not need to make us do bad things – he only needs to distract us in order to steal our peace, our joy and our devotion. That is why distracted is a dangerous place to be. It robs us of all that God has for us.
So what if we reversed that and let God be not only our focus but our distraction from the craziness of this world?
To counter our busyness - what if we carved out 30 minutes a day to spend time with Jesus? Instead of reading a 3 minute devo – what if we…
- turned on praise music softly
- prayed and had a personal conversation with Jesus – our best friend
- read a devotional and actually looked up the scriptures and read the explanation in a study Bible
- explained to our spouse and our children that this is the most important part of our day, asked them not to interrupt – but invited them to join us?
“See ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
To counter our boredom - aka complacency - what if we traded in our lukewarm attitudes for a dose of reckless abandon? What if we…
- repented and asked God to forgive our lack of passion for Him
- turned off the tv, computer and video game and picked up His word
- fell madly and passionately in love with Jesus – who He is and all He has done
- surrendered our life to be used for His glory
- read Revelations 3:14-21 and obeyed the command to be zealous
“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23
To counter our heavy burdens, what if we laid them down? I know it is much easier said than done. But what if we…
- recognized that no matter what we are enduring – Jesus is our answer
- realized that all of God’s promises are ours
- traded in our countless minutes of worrying for mini-sessions or worship and praise
- trusted God – no matter what, no matter what, no matter what
- increased our time in His word
- rested in His peace and in His presence
“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9
Let’s thwart Satan’s plan and stop letting him distract us from what matters most. Instead let’s choose to let God’s goodness, His mercy and His grace distract us from our busyness, from our boredom and from our burdens. Let’s wake up and realize that distracted is a dangerous place to be if we are faraway from walking the path God has for us. No more being preoccupied or inattentive. Let’s get excited, focused, committed and passionate about whose we are and who we are to be because of all He has done for us! Let the Holy Spirit awaken you in a new way. Let’s surrender our all to the One who has given His all to us.
Let’s start a movement! Let’s all say…
“God is my new distraction! Spending time with Him is my favorite pastime. Walking in obedience is my favorite thing to do. Who He desires for me to be is who I desire to become. I am pursuing His peace, His presence and His purpose for having me here. He is my best friend, my constant companion, my greatest love! Yes! I will seek Him first! Yes! I will be rooted in His word so I might bear fruit for Him! Yes! I will apply what He is teaching me and rest in His peace!”
Print this out. Post it on your mirror, dashboard and fridge. Share it with your friends. It’s a new day, a new chance to get this right.
Love you!
Pam