The cloudy noise of life has distracted me recently. It isn’t bad noise in-and-of-itself. It’s just that I’ve let it pull me away from the still, small voice of my Daddy. And He’s convicted me, as only a faithful Father can do, leading me back to that place where I refuse to compromise intimacy with a cloudy counterfeit.
Examples of noise that can distract me:
Fears that tempt me to question the character of God
Technology and the demands that come with it
Saying “yes” apart from His leading
Self-focused comparison, inevitably rooted in pride
Tyranny of the urgent
God’s always moving and speaking, the real question is whether or not we’re listening. The real dilemma is whether or not we’re fully tuned to Him. Not halfway. Halfway won’t work. Halfway won’t usher in His abundance.
He wants all of our heart, not what’s leftover after we’ve given ourselves away to everyone and everything else. And He wants it because He knows that only when we give our whole heart to Him do we find true life. And He patiently, graciously waits. He patiently, graciously woos.
Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments. ”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
Joel 2:12-13
The cure is simple (in theory). We just come to Him, humbly and repentant. We set everything else down and get really real with our Maker. We ask Him to fill us full of Himself and we dig into His sweet Word expecting Him to show up.
Our hearts will probably put up a fight because the cloudy noise tells us a different story. But soul abundance flows when He breaks through the clouds of this world’s distractions.
Fill me, Lord…
How have you struggled with distraction lately?
How do you stay focused in such a noisy world?
Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount:
Remember, we don’t memorize Scripture to check something off of our this-could-make-me-righteous list. It won’t make us righteous. Faith in Jesus makes us righteous. Memorization enables our hearts to meditate upon truth. So wherever you’re at in the journey, keep hiding His Word in your heart, sweet friend.{Week 36}
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
Matthew 7:9-10
“God is always moving- always speaking”– I want to be attuned to Him too, in everything! Good work sister!! Much love for you!
Prayed for and with you today, sweet sister. It was such a blessing to spend time with you at Allume. Looking forward!
Distraction…squirrel! Friday night was Fall Carnival at school; family photo session on Saturday morning; one child to a play date; meet back up & drop them off at a Halloween party; my husband & I had 4 hours of no kiddos…so everything had to be timed just right, including watching the Nebraska football game with friends in Gboro at 8pm, only for me to leave him & go get our kiddos from their party; on Sunday, singing to the glory of God in the Celebration choir, decorating car for trunk or treat, getting into our costumes, & participating. When am I going to grocery shop for the coming week? I can’t & don’t even want to look at Monday’s after school schedule. Panic attack in full mode! I was distracted by EVERYTHING.
How do I stay focused in this noisy world? Quiet time in the mornings…learning to say ‘no’…read…meditate…pray…deep breathing…phone a true friend. It’s easy to type, but a little harder to enforce!
I’ve had 3 mornings of awaking to panic attacks & skipping out on my time with God. It ain’t workin’.