Removing Distractions, Pt. 2

And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit – some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some even a hundred times as much (Mark 4:20).

What does a life of “wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ” look like? How can we be ones who “receive and accept and welcome” the Word? Begin asking God how to remove the distractions that choke out the life of the Word in you.

Remember the analogy of a monastery. In my imagined monastery, everything has its purpose. Nothing is wasted. Every activity and thought is useful to draw us closer to God. That doesn’t mean that there is no time for fun and leisure. Simply, everything is submitted to Him and received from His hand. (In the end, we may find that we have more fun, because we don’t have any sense of guilt or entitlement or dullness when we are engaged in our favorite activity!)

Ask God what may need to go. You know what you do that is restful, recreational and life-giving. Those things are good and are God’s gifts to be enjoyed. But you also know what you tend to turn to for escape from life that draws you away from His presence and darkens your perspective. Those things have to go. They will hinder you from being with Him. Being with Him is life, and being away from Him is death. So these are life-and-death choices we are making.

And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God . . . (John 17:3).

One example from my life is books. Reading is one of my favorite ways to relax. During the first month of the year, I fasted reading anything but the Bible. I found that I had so much more time for God when I wasn’t trying to also make time to do what I considered “my” things. I began to wonder: should I keep doing this forever? And yet, I didn’t feel that was what God was calling me to. He desires obedience, not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). And so, since then, I have cautiously added back in reading books. But I don’t just read whatever I want. I try to stay sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and I don’t make it a priority over spending much more time in the Word and prayer. Reading, for the first time in my life, has its proper place in my life: as a fun addition, but not the focus of my day.

Yesterday, by the time I put the kids down for their naps, I was nearly at my wits’ end. Tired of whining, complaining, and procrastination, my temper was short. I’m sure my children felt it. At that point I felt that I “deserved” to escape into some “me” time. I was tempted to pick up a book and escape for an hour or so. But the Holy Spirit gently drew me to spend time with Him instead. (I had slept late and missed my regular time with Him anyway, which was likely part of the problem.) So I listened to my five chapters of the Bible while putting on my makeup, and then sat down to journal-pray and read My Utmost for His Highest. By the time I was finished, God had restored my perspective, reminding me to lean on Him, to love my children out of His love, and not to rely on my own strength. If I had given in to escapism, would I been refilled with life for my family and myself? No. Instead, I would have made the problem greater by feeling sorry for myself. Instead of going to the Healer, I would have been licking my own wounds. Later I may have the freedom to enjoy a chapter of a good book. Then it will be something I can enjoy with God rather than something I’m using to hide from Him and my life.

There is another distraction that is so universal in our culture that I can hardly ignore it: television. This is an area that must be disciplined if we are to thrive in God. How can we stay focused on Him if we allow the world to set the tone for our home and thought life? I know many who do it in different ways. Each must ask God what it should look like for them. Some get rid of the TV altogether; while others limit the time and types of programs they watch. My family has felt led not to have television reception, while still enjoying DVD’s of movies that we have chosen. When we first made this decision, we didn’t fully comprehend the reasons. We just knew that we felt God calling us to lay this down. Now, over five years after having given up a regular diet of TV, we are still discovering how God is using this to protect and bless us in so many ways.

What is it that distracts your inner life from God’s perspective? Prayerfully consider any changes God may be asking you to make in your lifestyle. I mention my own convictions only as an example of what God has done in my life. It is not to put my particular choices on anyone else, only to encourage you that no matter how impossible, strange or counter-cultural it may seem, once you obey the conviction of the Holy Spirit, you will begin to grow in ways you never imagined. Eventually it will even begin to make sense!

Don't just remove something without replacing it with something else. Fill it with pleasures and joys from God's hand. Let Him be your joy. Good books, good friends, good movies, time with family, etc., are all gifts from His hand when enjoyed in and through Him rather than taken as a right we think we have. Enjoy!