Watch out for distractions!

by Ana Julia Luiz·January 17, 2023·3 min read

1views

I’ve been playing a mobile game called Candy Crush for a while now. I like him because he helps me distract my head and even de-stress. I noticed that, as you progress through the levels, the game starts using a new strategy to make you lose: distraction. Each level always has a goal, but it is common for other things to appear so that I focus on them and forget about the target of that stage.

Us and the distractions

In our lives this is exactly how it happens. We live our days often focused on what is not related to our goals.

The Lord may have given you some targets: to dedicate yourself to His work, to do something He ordered, to follow the call He gave you, among others. Anyway, He can direct us to so many purposes to fulfill in Him.

But the devil has many ways to divert us from our goals. The main one is distraction. How many times have you seen yourself on a path that seemed to make so much sense in your eyes, but when you turned to the Lord, He showed you that it wasn’t that?

It is usually a slow and gradual path that distances us from God’s will. In the book “Letters from a Devil to his Apprentice” by C.S. Lewis, there is the following excerpt:

“The safest road to Hell is the graded one—it is the gentle slope, the soft ground, without sharp bends, without landmarks and without signposts.” (Letter XII)
Letters from a Devil to his Apprentice – C.S.Lewis

Beware of what diverts you from purpose!

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”. Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Matthew 16:21-23

When Peter tries to stop Jesus from fulfilling His mission and purpose on earth, Jesus says to Him, “Get behind me, Satan” (v. 23). The word satan, in the original Greek, means adversary. Peter there did not want Christ to suffer in Jerusalem. His intention was good. However, Jesus considered as an adversary everything that could take Him away from His purposes.

We also need to consider distractions as our opponents, as they will often distract us from our goals.

How not to be distracted?

There is no magic formula. There is no such thing as a snap of the fingers that suddenly makes everything change. Just as detour usually comes through a slow and gradual path, it takes perseverance to get closer and closer to the Father and His Perfect will for us.

As we relate in a profound way with Him, we increasingly realize what comes from His heart for us. We are becoming more and more sensitive to the Lord’s revelation for our lives.

That every day we can get closer to God and ask Him to direct our steps. May we be increasingly resistant to the distractions that the devil puts in our paths.

God bless your life,
Ana.