Distractions

I was led back to twelfth chapter of Hebrews during my Bible study time this morning.  While perusing through the first verse I stopped and began to meditate on the phrase: “sin that so easily distracts us.”  (Gods Word ©)  The thought of how easy it is to get distracted captured my imagination. 

I began to think back of many incidents where distractions caused problems for me.  There was the time I dented the front bumper on my brand new shiny Pacific Blue 1977 280Z, when I took a moment to rub my aching head and nudged the big truck stopped in front of me at a red light.  Then another time when my wife and I were leading the music service at church many years ago and I allowed my concentration to wavier off to a person in the congregation playing an offbeat tambourine and totally lost my place in the song, or the incident just last night when I got so involved in a phone conversation that I missed three quarters of the show my wife and I were looking forward to watching together, and left her alone in a semi-dark living room.

Now, these occasions may not seem like a big deal, but distractions can cause us to lose a grip on the things that are important to us.  The King James Version of Hebrews 12:1 uses the word “beset” instead of “distracts”.  Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries pictures this word (in the context of running the race of life) as a “competitor thwarting a racer in every direction” Distractions can put us behind, keep us in a catch up mode, or maybe better explained by the old phrase “being behind the eight ball” which is a common term that means to be in “a difficult position from which it is unlikely one can escape.” (For a background on this saying see: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/behind-the-eight-ball.html)

Some distractions can have disastrous consequences to you or those around you.  I will never forget the time many years ago when my father-in-law and I were trying to wire up the power to a darkroom we had erected in our backyard.  At one point I found myself getting so totally frustrated and upset when one particular connection was not coming together, that I failed to observe our one year old Sheltie get into some snail bait that I thought was securely stored away.  Later that afternoon she went into convulsions and we had to have her put to sleep a few weeks later.  That was a hard lesson that still harbors deep emotions within me.  What if that had been my young son that I was distracted from?

While I realize that we can’t allow the “what ifs” of the past to haunt us, I do try to use that life lesson as a guide in my present.  (I use the word “try,” as distractions like the extended phone call last night pop up when least expected!)  As you go forth today, be aware of the temptations that present themselves in order to get you distracted away from your planned path.  Stay focused, ask for the Lord’s assistance and then trust Him to help you through.  (see: I Corinthians 10:13)  If you make a mistake, know that “He will abundantly pardon”  (Isaiah 55:7 New American Standard Version), and then get up and get going again!  By staying aware of and in control of the distractions around you, you will find yourself enjoying a more productive and happy life.  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What are you expecting today?”