Distractions

Distractions...anything could be a distraction.  Bad things, like sinful actions, not only distract us, but actually derail us, causing us to lose our path.  But, not all distractions are sinful actions.  Often, we become distracted by what we consider godly pursuits.  And this is where it gets tricky.

I have been very distracted lately.  Work has been an all consuming distraction that has caused me to neglect most of what is important in my life, including my family...all the way down to this blog.  I have felt as if I could not spare a few minutes of any day to just sit down and quietly meditate on something the Lord has placed in my mind as I write about it.  I have neglected to do the one thing that makes me feel the closest to My Lord...the one thing that feels as if I'm hearing directly from Him...and for what?  I've neglected My God for the world.

Of course, I need to be a good steward of all that God has given me, and that includes my job outside the home.  However, I'm at risk of making it my idol instead of a means to do God's work.  I'm at risk of forgetting the purpose why God gave me this job: to serve Him.  And I'm making it all about myself, my wants and my pride.

I don't want to continue this trend.  I want to be strong enough to say "enough"!  I don't want to be derailed from my walk with Christ.  I don't want to be detached from my mission to my family and to those around me.  I want to be who He says I need to be, and even though I am not 100% sure I truly understand who that person is...I know it is not who I have been lately.

Moses seemed to have been too distracted or too detached to even carry out the most basic commandment the israelites had received from God through Abraham: to circumcise all the males in his household.  This distraction was going to cost him dearly when the Lord sought to include Moses' first born in the group of those sons who would be killed for the disobedience of Pharaoh.  It is a confusing passage in Exodus 4:24, but when we see what Moses' wife, Zipporah does in verses 25-26, we begin to understand what had happened.  She took it upon herself to carry out what Moses failed to do.  She understood the severity of God's words and how it would affect them too...so...the wake up call woke her up enough to take the knife and circumcise her son herself. She realized that the distraction had led them to disobedience and disobedience meant they too were going to pay the price of neglecting the things of God.

Lord, I don't want it to come to that in my life!  I am seeking Your guidance today so I take steps of wisdom back onto the tracks of our walk together.  Please, redirect my path and guide my every step so I can trust I am walking with You, whether at home or at work.  May I have keen eyes to see the road that leads to You.

May the Lord be our GPS!