Those Pesky Distractions

Surprise!

You never know when the latest installment of this little blog of mine is going to appear, do you? I don't write for two weeks, and then I write two days in a row. That's just the way it works when something is on my heart.

I choose to have my personal time with the Lord in the mornings, because I believe there are many benefits to reading the Word and committing your day to God early in the day. That said, I am not a person who does that the minute I wake up. I can concentrate much better after I get myself going in the morning and after my husband leaves for work.

But...does this sound familiar: You get up in the morning full of good intentions and determined to let nothing get in the way of you spending quality time with God today and to accomplish as much as you can on your to-do list. You start your morning off with a good workout. So far, so good. Passing through the kitchen on the way to shower before your devotions, you decide you need to eat breakfast because if you eat breakfast too late, it messes up lunch. While you are eating your breakfast, you log in and check your e-mails. There are some e-mails which need a response, there are some blogs to read, and some links to events and news stories, as well as information and coupons on sales at your favorite stores. Before you know it, you look at the clock and an hour has passed! And you haven't even gotten to the shower, much less your time with God!

Or this scenario: Same morning, same good intentions. When you go into the bedroom to retrieve your Bible and notebook, you see your husband's tie and suit coat lying on the chair. So you take a minute to hang them up. While you are hanging them in the closet, you notice that the laundry hamper which is in the closet is close to overflowing. You figure it will only take a few minutes to sort the laundry and start a load. While you are doing that in the laundry room, you take care of a pile of old clothing that is headed for donation and clean up a spill from a bottle of detergent because the lid wasn't tight. And so it goes, until...oops! It is now mid-morning and I only have a couple minutes to read my Bible before I have to get ready for my appointment.

Those pesky distractions! There are a million of them, and Satan loves to use them in our lives to keep us from "that one needful thing" - our time in the Word with God. I will confess that one of my biggest personal distractions is Facebook. As a side note, I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I love keeping connected with friends and family that live around the nation and even the world. I love being able to post verses, good quotes, and words of encouragement. I love reading verses, good quotes, and words of encouragement. I get good ideas for books to read and for ministry. However, I also dislike Facebook for many reasons: reading people's complaining and griping which I too often get caught up in, and finding out information that I wish I didn't know because it discourages me. And biggest of all, because it can be a distraction for me when I allow it to keep me from doing other and better things. I have had to impose a rule for myself that I don't check Facebook until later in the day, AFTER I have had my time with God. It could be the same with anything you find to be a distraction: reading the newspaper, texting on your phone, or watching a TV show, for instance.

The verse that comes to mind is Song of Solomon 1:15 - "Take the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." That's is what the distractions in our days are like - pesky little foxes that sneak in and ruin what has been planted in our lives, what would have been good if the foxes hadn't gotten to them. Foxes are known to be sneaky. And isn't that the way it is with distractions - they seem so innocent and they sneak up on us, and they steal our time!

Friend, today I hope you will take a couple minutes to consider what might be distracting you and keeping you from doing what you should be doing. Ask the Lord to help you to identify the "little foxes" in your life, and for His help to be disciplined, to stay focused and not be distracted from what is really important.

Lovingly,
Kathi