Distractions have been on my mind for a few weeks now. In a world that is increasingly diagnosing individuals with attention deficit disorder, it's very easy to allow life to be one big distraction from our bigger purpose. I've heard others mention distractions recently, so now seems a good time to address that. This past Sunday when I was in Lawton with my family the pastor preached on Paul. His sermon was about the way Paul responded to his circumstances, and how we should follow that example. After Paul turned his life over to Jesus he lived through very difficult circumstances, but he never let that prevent him from doing what God had called him to do. The pastor also quoted someone that said life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond. A few weeks ago I was working on preparations for VBS and trying to get other stuff done and it seemed like everything was going wrong. When I'm tired and really stressed I'm very easily discouraged. However, every single time something else went wrong I thought of James chapter one when it says "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds." I know that in my own life when things aren't going "right" I tend to get so focused on what's wrong that I forget about everything else. At the end of that day, as I was driving home I was reminded of Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." John says that the thief has come to steal, kill and destroy. If we already have a relationship with Jesus then the thief is going to do all the he can to steal our focus and kill our zeal for following the Lord and seeking and living out His will. Instead of being distracted by circumstances, we need to turn to God and rest in what we know of Him and seek to learn more about Him. Oswald Chambers said, "Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself." My focus right now is on God's faithfulness and consistency. He is constantly proving that to me. Even when I am distracted or discouraged because it seems like nothing is going right He is faithful. As we are seeking to know His will and be more like Him I pray that those are some of His traits that are seen in us. That we are faithful and constant. Faithful in our prayer time, not because it's another thing to check off our list, but because we truly want to see God at work. I've realized that self is really the biggest distraction out there. I get so wrapped up in what's going on in my own life, that I forget to pray for my brother or sister, that I forget to just ask them what's going on. Jason has shared a few times Job 42:10 that says, "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before." The greatest commandments in the Bible boil down to loving God and loving people. It doesn't say in there to take care of yourself and then love people. If we are loving God and loving people then the rest will fall into place.
~Lord, I thank you that you are an unchanging God. That the God we read about in the Bible is the same God we can come before today. That we can expect to see you work in the same ways you worked in the Old and New Testament. You are still healing people, delivering people from addictions and sin, and performing other miracles. We should expect no less from you than the apostles did. I pray that others would see that in us. That we are consistently seeking You, and seeking to grow in our relationship with You. That we faithfully show Your love to all we come in contact with. That whether they see us at church on Sunday or Wednesday, or in the grocery store on pay day we are loving You and loving those around us. Don't allow the distractions of life to take our focus from You and prevent us from fulfilling Your purpose. I thank that You remain faithful even when we are not, and that when we get sidetracked You are there waiting for us and welcome us back with open arms.~
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