We live in a world filled with constant distractions. Someone or something is always trying to get your attention and most times takes you away from what you’re focused on achieving.
What exactly is a distraction?
It’s the process of diverting the attention of an individual from a desired area of focus. It’s the lack of ability to pay attention. There are external and internal distractions. External distractions are visual triggers, social interactions, music, texts messages, phone calls, and the list goes on. Internal distractions are hunger, fatigue, illness, worrying, daydreaming, etc. Both external and internal distractions tend to take away our focus on the present and steal our time.
When I sit down for my daily prayer time and Bible reading, I make sure my phone is switched to silent mode. Even though it’s on silent, anytime there’s an alert, the screen lights up. And I must confess that I’m usually easily distracted but I’m working on it. When the screen lights up, I’m tempted to see and most times I do. Usually, it’s not really an important alert but I still tend to look. However, there are times when it could be a text I’ve been waiting for or an email reply, and right in the middle of my devotion time, I attend to it.
What just happened?
I got distracted.
Is it a sin?
No.
Is God going to punish me for being distracted?
No.
But every distraction steals from you.
What if God was about to speak to me and I was distracted? What if there was a promise in scripture that would give me an answer I was desperately looking for?
But, because I was distracted, I lose. It’s not that God won’t speak to me again but for that moment and that day, I lost.
So, how do I minimize distractions?
STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO.