The Question I am asking myself is, how can I focus on God when my life is
full of distractions?
I am a Highly Distracted Person. My brain is
constantly thinking about stuff that usually has absolutely no eternal significance. However, since becoming a follower of Jesus, the one thing that happens to me regularly is that I am reminded about spiritual things and God, even while my mind drifts into a world of insignificance.
Because I am a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit plays an important role in my life and one of those roles is to tap me on the shoulder, symbolically of course, when I start to exchange the God centered life for the self centered one. This exchange is due to my daily battle with CSS which causes me to be a Highly Distracted Person. CSS is “Crazy Scenario Syndrome”. I invented this disease for myself to help
remind me that the scenarios that I am daydreaming about are not reality and that I should cease and desist from any further
exploration of those thoughts. Usually the scenarios are focused around me and situations that I place myself into where I need to deal with a person who has wronged me. In these scenarios I am very capable of making up some pretty interesting dialogue. And of course I always win. I have wasted many a moment on
utilizing massive amounts of brain power that could be funneled into more important things.
So as a Highly Distracted Person with CSS, I need God's help to get my mind right! This is why as a CSS sufferer I am also reminded about my need for God and my need for total dependence on Him. You see, in a fallen world it becomes more apparent each day that I need Godly perspective and clear direction for my life. I need God for the important decisions I need to make each day. I need God to be able to love others. Godly perspective is not only important for me but for my family as well. When I have Godly perspective my tendency is to be Christ-like which benefits those around me. Love and caring for my family's needs is my number one ministry. Each day we are faced with choices. We can push God aside to become more like the world in thought and action , or we can venture into the realm of God centered perspective and live for the Glory of God.
To help us get this God centered perspective we should put in place reminders all around us so along with the Holy Spirit's counsel, there will ways
to trigger a redirect of our thoughts toward God. We can put
Bible verses on the fridge, or on a computer screen saver. We can take a bible with us to read. We can keep a
journal. We can play Christ centered music in the car or on the home stereo. We can listen to
to sermons on line or on the radio etc. Whatever the case
may be, we need to make a daily deliberate attempt to connect with God. Most important is that we need to make time to pray and read the Bible daily.
We need quality time with God and we need the constant awareness of His presence. The good news is we have the opportunity to connect with God in the midst of any activity we are involved in. If we had constant awareness of God's presence we might even reign in our tongues, our anger, and even actions that display hypocritical behavior that diminishes our kingdom impact on others due to our sin nature. This may sound weird but what we need to do first
is to take time to ask God to help us make time for Him each day. I ‘m sure He will gladly
answer that prayer as that is His desire. Then we need to ask Him to be our constant companion throughout the day. Even though it is guaranteed that we will face many distractions during our day, it is important to make God a priority amongst those distractions.
Once the importance of being connected to God becomes our reality, and God becomes our constant companion, we will discover the sweetness of the abundant life that Jesus made possible. Remember it is God's desire to be the number one priority in our lives. The abundant life comes through our relationship with God and through the Joy of our salvation. When we realize the degree of our blessing and the depth of God's love, our spirits are lifted up no matter what our circumstances. The Eternal perspective opens the door to living an abundant life. Jesus said this:
John 10:10 New Living Translation
In other words we can be content with our lives and with God's provision. The greatest problem aside from our sin nature is that we are not content and look to the world to fill our need instead of Christ.
Jesus tells us that He can satisfy our real need:
John 4:13-14 The Message
Jesus said,
"Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone
who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I
give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless
life."
So as we continue our our journey of faith we should take to heart the fact that Jesus desires us to be
in close personal relationship with us, why else would we be exhorted to bring everything to Him in prayer.
Jesus truly cares about our heart condition.
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the
peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The most important thing we are to do is to love God and to worship Him from the depths of our heart.
Deuteronomy 6:5
“Love the LORD your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
The most important thing we need to know God loves us and gave it all to make that fact known to us.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
These are all great verses to revisit because they are great reminders of what Jesus did and reminders the kind of relationship we should have with God. So as I Highly Distracted Person I learn I need God's Word daily.
In conclusion:
Even though I am a Highly Distracted Person with CSS I have a Heavenly Father who is willing to
make every effort to grab hold of my thoughts and show me the path to a real in life in Christ.
When I think about what God has done, and what He continues to do for me, I am forever grateful.
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