I was recently talking to the Lord and thought I would spend a little time getting his wisdom concerning my youngest, who is 8 years old and of the male species. He’s creative and passionate. He’s perfect. I like to think he’s very much like me, except that he gets distracted very easily and he moves A LOT! I’ve been told this is normal for 8 year old boys, but the lack of focus can get a little daunting. Feeling overwhelmed, I laid out my concerns to the Lord. “Lord, he needs to work on focusing. What can I do to help?”
What I was about to hear stunned me. Like, "mouth gaped open, catching flies" stunned. He said to me, “You could start by example, because He’s acting a lot like you — the way you’ve been treating me,” It must have been obvious to the Lord that He took me by surprise because as I picked my chin up off the floor, He gently began to explain how easily I have been getting distracted. He showed me that He has asked me to do a couple of things, and although my intention was to respond immediately, I became distracted by the bells and whistles of life. Here I was, concerned about my son’s attention deficit, and it turns out that I have had an attention deficit of my own. I’ve had Spiritual Attention Deficit.
My life is full of things I love — and adore! Add in social media and there’s just too much for this girl to give her attention to. The truth is that I love the Lord more than any of these things, and knowing that I have been deficit in my attention to his requests was a big wake-up call for me.
Proverbs 4:20 encourages us, “listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.” This happens on purpose. The problem is that if I’m not careful to put actions to my knowledge, I fool myself into thinking that my knowledge is good enough. James 1:22 tells us, “But obey God’s word. Do not just listen to it. If you just listen to it, you fool yourself.” I don’t want to be a fool. I also don’t want to use the excuse, “I was distracted,” when I stand before the Lord and give an account for my life.
When it comes down to it, the many good works that I may accomplish or the unimportant — but lovely — social media pictures that I may post pale in comparison to His request. If He wants me to just sit quietly at his feet or write a book… His word to me trumps all. Or at least it should.
Jesus spoke of this very thing in the parable of the sower in Luke 8:7 where some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked the seed. Jesus explains in verse 14, "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” The “cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life” can cause us to not follow through with what we have heard and allow the Word, either written or spoken, to alter the course of our lives. This distraction can lead to being dried up, powerless and left wondering why life isn’t looking exactly like what God has promised.
Notice the last part of Luke 8:7, “and bring no fruit to perfection.” Have you looked around lately? Are you staying busy but not being fruitful? A fruitless life can be an indication of a distracted life. What if the fruit you have doesn't look like it should? Matthew 7:16-20 tells us that we will be known by our fruit. “a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.” Corrupt? Wait a minute. How did we get from being distracted to being corrupt? Distraction can cause us to be corrupted or led stray. Have you ever had your attention captured by a magician. Magicians are skilled at distraction. The objective is to lead us away from the truth so that we believe something that is false…or an illusion. The enemy of our soul is skilled at tricking people into living an illusion by distracting them. The illusion may seen pleasant but ultimately it will not produce good, lasting, perfected fruit.
Has “life” distracted you from doing something that the Lord asked you to do? Do you ever feel like you are living an illusion, producing nothing lasting?
Let me encourage you as I have myself. Listen to His Word to you AND be quick to act on the instruction the Lord gives, be it to forgive, to pray, to stop complaining or to magnify Him. Unlike the magician, our God is skilled at leading us into truth. Truth that will create a life that is laden with fruit as good as it is possible to be.
Hugs and Blessings,
Tamera Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment