Distractions: Part 1

On this journey of trying to write my first book I have ran into some road blocks called “distractions.”  Distractions are things that grab your attention and cause you to focus on other things, instead of what you should be doing.

In July I went to a conference called, “She Speaks” (www.proverbs31.org).  The conference had workshops for writers and speakers.  It was very informative and eye opening.  Some of the things I learned were how to format a book, how to write a chapter and the difference between a literary agent and a publisher.  I had a great time.  It was great to get away and spend time thinking about my dreams and aspirations, while relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere.

But all of that was short lived, as soon as I got back home the distractions started.  It became very busy at work and many days I was too exhausted to do anything when I got home, but sleep.  This started a snowball effect, everything started to pile up on me.  I had a never ending list of chores to do, laundry, cleaning rooms, etc., etc.  I found I did not have the time or energy to work on my dreams.  My dreams got pushed to the side while I tried to restore order to my life.

It seems that every time we get on track and know without a shadow of doubt what God wants us to do here come the distractions.  The dictionary says that distractions are anything that diverts our attention, anything that causes confusion and perplexity.  Distractions can be getting a flat tire on the way to church or your neighbors playing their music very loud when you finally have time to write.  Distractions take our focus off what we should be doing and puts our focus on things that cause us to lose time and drain our energy.

As Christians we are running a race called “faith”.  Where we put our trust in God to help us make it through each day.  In this faith race we will have some distractions.  The enemy is always trying to trip us up and make us take our eyes off the prize.  The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  His objective is to stop us from reaching the finish line.  But we have to persevere until the end.  We cannot let anything stop us from getting to the finish line.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Let us run this race with endurance, don’t let distractions stop you.  There are so many things in this life that distract us from the mission God has given us to do. Distractions cause us to lose our focus and focus on the distraction, instead of focusing on doing the will of God.

Distractions can cause us to sin.  Because we become angry, upset and irritated.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get frustrated when things don’t go as planned.  We have to learn how to stay focused, stay cool and not let things upset us.  Distractions are designed to get our focus off of God.  They can cause us to go down the wrong path and we can find ourselves far away from God. 

Matthew 16:26 says, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

We must not let distraction cause us to act irrationally and cause us to lose our souls.  Most of the time we are totally unaware that the things happening in our lives are distractions. We simply react to the situation that is presented to us.  We must not let anything distract us from the race we are running.

Hebrews:12:1
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have ran this faith race we are running.  Some are at home in glory with the Father.  I am pretty sure they would tell us that the victory is worth all the heartache, the pain and agony we have to endure.  We all know someone who has beat the odds and are now living out their dreams despite all the challenges they may have had to face.  They were able to persevere even though times it seemed like they were not going to make it.

This race of “faith” can be won.  We just have to hold on to God’s unchanging hand while we run this race.  We can’t let distractions get in our way.  We can’t let distractions get our focus off of God.

While we are on this faith race we have to lay aside things that weigh us down.  Anything that will cause us to sin.  We cannot let anything distract us from accomplishing the goals God has given us.  We have to make sure we hold on to the dreams and visions God has given to us.  Don’t lay them aside for anything.  Keep running this race enduring until the race has been won.

LSW