And Right On Cue
Isn't it amazing how complications show up JUST WHEN everything seems to be going great in life? Think about it for a moment, how many times has it happened that we were really excited about something and then out of "left field" something that we never even saw coming hits us straight in the face? SO MANY TIMES. Why is that seemingly always the case?
Distractions are ALL AROUND US. Distractions come in many shapes, sizes, personalities and the worst ones come from the people and situations closest to our hearts. In fact, there are some people who actually have learned to COEXIST in distraction land. There are some people who ARE distractions and there are even people who ATTRACT distractions like a magnet. Over time great thinkers have given us little sayings that help us to cope with our natural understanding that there is just no getting around life's distractions, we've all heard them, "Life is like a box of Chocolates, you never know what your gonna get" or how about throwing up our hands and saying, "It is what it is"; and many more that are quite literally embedded into our subconscious. If we think about it, all of these clever sayings point us (collectively) in the direction of mental excuses that make perfect sense to the natural fallen mindset, where we cave to the situation or annoying personality types that cause us to lose focus. We have experienced enough moments just like this in our lifetime that we don't question the validity of this mentality, and that will only begin to change when we come to realize how dangerous and deadly distractions really are.
Imagine Peter walking on the water one day (after Jesus was no longer around) and something besides the wind and the waves (which he would have been used to) grabs his attention, maybe Matthew is yelling at him from the shoreline reminding him April 15th is just around the corner and (once again) he begins to sink without the physical presence of Jesus to pull him to safety; in other words, lesson NOT learned. Take this pandemic for the OBVIOUS example. People are actually getting sick. People are actually spreading a virus. People are actually dying. There is actually a point being made when they say "it's not a matter of if, but when, it is coming." Sometimes distractions can actually lead to permanent change, such as this distraction that we are all currently in the middle of, leading us into a future that has permanently changed the world as we once knew it. We must adapt, adjust and recenter our hearts on the fixed points of reference that we live our entire lives by, God our Father; because that is going to be the only way to overcome this type of major distraction.
Jesus was tempted with distractions ALL the time. We know the big temptation by the devil, himself, when Jesus famously quoted back "do not tempt the Lord God" (Matthew 4:7), but what about all of those other times, all of those distractions that kept popping up everywhere He went? From grown "religious" men rushing up on Him and throwing an adulterous woman to the ground before Him in order to catch Him speaking against the holy scriptures, to the way in which He ignored the person and spoke directly to satan who was in the form of His concerned friend, Peter, who was just looking out for Him. He wasn't about to allow the distractions to stop Him from doing what He knew needed to be done, Jesus set His face and went on into Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) and not one single distraction was going to stop Him. Time and again Jesus was a master at recognizing the distractions, ignoring the distractions and addressing the source behind them. He was able to slice through the chaos with precision and accuracy. And after He had completed this master class on earth, He set us up with the ability to do the same and GREATER.
(John 16:33, NKJ)
"In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" . So how does this help us? If we replace the word tribulation with the word distraction, and recognize distractions as just another form of trouble, we can then treat them equally in order to overcome them equally. Think of it like this, when we are faced with any kind of distraction and we don't allow it to stop us or arrest our attention; we are then able to rise OVER it and maintain our focus COMING full speed ahead towards our desired end or focal point. Anyone who has ever done anything in this world that is important, significant, good, inspirational etc, have all had to learn to do it in the middle of distractions. Using the word of God (TRUTH) we must hold everything up to His light, looking past the distractions and the emotional tugging to see what is actually happening behind the scenes and address those things on a spiritual level, so that we are SURE to fulfill the work that God calls us to EVERY single day.