Distractions can be Deadly

Distractions can be deadly. There are so many voices in the earth vying for our attention. Some are for good; others for evil. The enemy is always trying new ways to distract us. Sometimes he gives us just enough word to make us think it was the Holy Spirit speaking to us, but do not be fooled. We need to be able to discern the difference and learn to live above the crazy, wild noise of the world and focus our complete attention on God.

Here are three ways you can do that:

1. Humble yourself. Learn to take a moment to refocus in order to follow the instructions of the Holy Spirit, which may ultimately save your life. Force out those distractions. What is your heart position? In 1 Peter 5:6-7, Peter tells us to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” When we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, we release our anxiety and focus on His instructions. 
2. Pray! Take time to commune with God. One of the first scriptures I learned, while studying Hebrew, was the ‘Shema’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The Shema is fundamental to the Jewish faith. It is an affirmation and declaration of faith in the one true God. The Shema is not just about hearing; it also means to listen and to obey what you hear. Therefore, to live above all that noise we must do all three when communing with God. Jesus said I can only say what my Father tells me to say and how to say it (John 12:49). Jesus often went into the wilderness alone to pray. (Mark 1, 6, 14; Luke 4, 5, 6). We don’t need to go into the wilderness to avoid distractions, but we need to find a place where we can meet with God.
3. Take action. Use your spiritual weapons. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4 ). When tempted, Jesus used spiritual weapons against the enemy; He used the Word. Our spiritual weapons must include the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). We are not to stand silently by while being bombarded with all of those distractions and the noisy confusion this world has to offer. We must take action.

If we follow God’s plan we have our own form of noise cancellation. We can move past those distractions and focus on hearing from God. We must humble ourselves, take the time to talk, hear, listen, and finally, obey by taking needed action.