It seems more children than ever are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Although many adults grew up before there was an official name for this condition, many of us can recall having difficulty paying attention or being easily distracted as a child. Some of us are still easily distracted.
One of the tricks the enemy specializes in is a timely distraction. Just when things seem to be going fine, or right when we finally make up our minds to take a stand or make a change, along comes a distraction to take our eyes off of the prize.
If you have ever seen the movie, The Matrix, you may recall the scene where Keanu Reeves' character experiences the distraction of a woman in red walking toward him while everyone else around her is wearing gray. He was able to move along with the flow of the crowd until a bright red sensuous distraction came into view. Of course, it turns out that the "woman" in red was not even a woman at all, but a mirage serving as a cover for an assassin.
We experience scenes like this on a regular basis. But God tells us in Hebrews 12:1-2, "...since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumberance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith...."
Some translations use the word, "distracts" in place of the word "entangles." Both give the connotation of being hindered from moving forward--either because something has turned and twisted itself around us or we have turned and twisted our heads away from what we should be focused on.
Either way, the way to get back on track is to "run with endurance...fixing our eyes on Jesus...." We may not be able to help the fact that distractions will come our way. But, just because they are in our eyesight doesn't mean we have to focus or fix our eyes on the distractions. We can acknowledge that they exist and then run on past them with our gaze fixed intently on Jesus, "the author and perfector of our faith...."
When we take time to completely turn our focus toward our distractions or get cozy enough with them to ask a few questions to satisfy our curiosity, we become co-conspirators in our own derailment. Just ask Peter. When he turned his eyes from Jesus to examine the height, strength and fury of the waves all around him, he began to sink. It wasn't the waves that sank him, it was his spiritual ADD, for as soon as he returned to focusing on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water without sinking.
Sure, distractions can be hard to miss and hard to resist, but as Hebrews 12:4 reminds us, most of us "..have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in [our] striving agains sin...."
Remember, scripture says that the sin "easily entangles (distracts) us..." Let's not continue to make it so easy for us to be deterred from the race that God has set before us. Let's spend enough time listening to and for God to know when something sounds like it's a test from Him or whether it is a actually a tempting distraction. Remember, God tests, but our enemy tempts. Tests make us stronger, temptations make us weaker.
So, the next time we are distracted by something that looks, feels, sounds, smells or tastes tempting, let's check with God to see if that person, place, or thing is listed in His version of our life story. After all He is the true author, and therefore has the only "authorized" version of our life stories. If the things that are distracting us don't honestly add up to the character of God, or if what we are about to add will negatively subtract from what God has planned for us, we must be wise enough to subtract what sin has tried to ADD.
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
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