DISTRACTIONS, DISTRACTIONS, DISTRACTIONS.

Often, I am bombarded with distractions as I prepare for sermons, engage in prayer, read the Bible, and meditate.  These distractions seem to occur more frequently when I am engaged in spiritual activities than at other times.

Hudson Taylor acknowledged this as well.  He was a famous missionary to China in the 1800’s.  His son wrote a biography about his father, entitled, HUDSON TAYLOR’S SPIRITUAL SECRET.  In his book, the son reflected on his father’s spiritual journey and said: “The hardest part of a missionary career, is to maintain regular, prayerful Bible study. Satan will always find something to distract you.” (Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, p. 239)

Satan wants to distract every person from their priority in walking with the Lord.  He knows how important our daily walk with Almighty God is and, he will always try to distract and keep us from investing our work and our time with the Lord.  

Even though distractions cannot be totally eliminated, several strategies have been employed to minimize them.  I begin with prayer and ask the Lord to keep my mind from wandering, and to keep it from being derailed with irrelevant thoughts as I concentrate on the spiritual task(s) at hand.   Obviously, I also need to shut off the cell phone to prevent ringing and dinging, alerting me to calls, text messages, and e-mails.  Another strategy is to remove myself from those arenas in the house that are prone to generating noise, such as the dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, television, washer, dryer, etc.  Time of day is also critical.  For me, the best time to get alone with the Father is early morning hours or late evening.

The important thing to remember is that we are all prone to internal and external distractions.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, may we keep distractions from interfering with our relationship, work, and service for the Lord.  Blessings and Prayers,