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Life's Distractions

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Life’s Distractions

As we labor in this journey called, “Life,” even we Christians find ourselves in predicaments that we know that are not pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit cautions us, but we allow the distractions, our flesh, to bind us up. Then, we ask ourselves, in frustration,

1. How did I get into this mess?
2. What happened to my better judgment?
3. Why did it happen to me? And…….
4. How can I get out?

I thank God for a merciful God—a God of love and forgiveness! He always comes through, in spite of ourselves.

Let’s look at some biblical distractions that caused an uproar, but God stepped in to fix that which was broken.

I. EVE, the first Woman on Earth
Eve appeared as a complete, perfect woman. She was never a child, or a daughter or a maiden. She was created out of man. She was the first and only woman to have no inherited sin, for she formed by the hand of Almighty God.

Created by a perfect God, Eve reflected the divine perfection. Adam’s first reaction to her signifies her loveliness, her beauty, her whole aura.
It was Adam that gave the first love poem to a woman. When he looked upon her, he said proudly, “
This, then, at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my own flesh: This shall be called Wo-man for from man was she taken.

Yet, with all that beauty, love, and attention, Eve had a distraction, called a snake! You see, sin was unknown to Adam or Eve. Oh but a snake is a snake is a snake! This distraction changed the whole course of the world.

God told her not eat off one tree, of all the trees in the garden. Eve, distracted by the serpent, became curious. The snake had sweet-talked her.

How many of you know that sweet-talk has led to many troubles? (PAUSE)

Eve became distracted by what the serpent was saying, that she would be wise, she would be knowledgeable! She not only ate off the tree, but she got Adam to eat too.
Because of such distraction, we all are born into sin, and death is inevitable. I can imagine that Eve said, “How did I get in this mess? Why did I allow that snake to distract me?”

II. Now let’s look at Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Sarah had no children; she was barren. She went to her husband, Abram , and told him that he must go into her maid, Hagar. Thus, Hagar became pregnant, just as Sarah had wanted. Since Hagar was pregnant, and Sarah was barren, Hagar treated Sarah with contempt.

Now, Sarah wants to get mad at Abram for this whole situation. She blamed him for listening to her!

Sarah had first become distracted with the fact that she could not bear children, instead of trusting God and believing that God will bless her. She took matters in her own hand, and wreaked havoc on a whole nation of people that has resulted in feud even until this day.

Like Sarah, many times we allow our own shortcomings to distract us from faith, hope, and trust. We become bogged with what we don’t have, what we can’t get, who has what we don’t have, all distractions to keep us from focusing on what God want in our lives.

Had Sarah prayed and waited, she would know that God would bless her with a son, an inheritance, Isaac. Impatience was her distraction!

Patience is a virtue. Many of us are distracted by our own desires. We want what we want, when we want it. Impatience leads us to make bad decisions, wrong decisions that cause heartbreak, suffering, poverty, unhappiness, danger, and sometimes death.

We have to learn to be patience and wait on God. While we are waiting, we must praise Him in the midst of storm and believe that a brighter day is coming.

III. Now, let’s look at Delilah, the woman that betrayed Samson.

Delilah was distracted by the desire for power and recognition. She wanted favor and wealth among the Philistine rulers that she was willing to betray the man that truly loved her.

The love of money is the root of all evil, and it is a major distraction that exist strongly today. Many men and women have lost their lives, their positions, their integrity, their sound judgment due to the love for money, fame and fortune.

Delilah easily betrayed Samson for 1100 pieces of silver from each Philistine ruler. She took advantage of Samson’s true love for her, and she ultimately caused him his strength and sight.

Just a Delilah was distracted by wealth and power, Samson was distracted by love for a woman. Delilah had proven three times prior that she would betray him. Three times in a row, Samson lied about where his strength lay.

Delilah, who was infested with a desire to control, conquer, and consume, finally used her woman’s wiles to get Samson to tell her where his strength lay.

So many times, we desire the things of this world, instead of the things of God. Only what we do for Christ will last. Wealth, houses, cars, fur coats, jewelry, silver, gold will all past away, except of the streets that are paved with gold and a starry crown we will wear, only for those who love the Lord!

Don’t let the love of power and money distract you from being the person that God has ordained you to be.

IV. I could go on and on about distractions of women in the bible, but let me mention one more, in the New Testament, the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’s feet with her tears.

Many times we are distracted by our past lives, our past mistakes, our past loves, our past mishaps, just our past in general.

Let me tell you about a sinful woman in Luke 7. This woman had been labeled as a prostitute. I can imagine for so long she was distracted by her past, that she was accustomed to having her life thrown in her face, people pointing fingers at her like she was a nobody.

I can only imagine that she was distracted by her lifestyle, past and present.

However, one day, she heard that Jesus was in town, having dinner with the Pharisees. She dropped in at the dinner, unannounced, and anointed Jesus feet with expensive oil and her tears. She desired to be delivered, to be saved from her past and renewed in her present.

She no longer wanted her past life to hinder her new life. I can imagine that she said, Today, I will press toward the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

While this woman humbled herself, the Pharisees tried to distract her by telling Jesus that she was a sinful woman, a prostitute.

But God! Jesus used a parable to let the Pharisees know that this woman did not have to be distracted by her past sin any more. That day was a “new day, a brand new mercy!”

You see, we can no longer allow man to distract us by throwing in our face what we used to do or what we used to do.

What matters, is what you are doing now! Are you reading your Bible? Are you loving God and your fellow man? Is God your first priority? Are you serving and helping the needy? Have you visited the sick? Are you praising God and giving Him the glory? Are you paying your tithes first?

What you used to do is in the past. Focus on what God has for you right now.

Somebody say, “Right now, Lord!”

Stop letting people block your progress by pulling you back into a past from which the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has delivered you.

Walk in your calling. Let nothing separate you from the love of God—not tribulation, not distress, not persecution, not famine, not nakedness, not peril, not sword! Nothing, not my past, not my desires, NOTHING!

Jennifer Young Wallace
January 2016

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