Dis...trac...tions...

Distractions are a part of everyone's life. Distraction defined is "a thing that keeps someone from giving full attention to something else." Now I think about distractions more than most people because I am distracted more than most. You can call it ADD, caffeine overdose, at times even laziness, but the fact remains I get distracted more than others. (As I write this post, you can bet that I have changed the artist on my music player twice, checked the news three times, and checked with sadness and frustrations at last night's Mets scores wondering why they are always the most disappointing team in baseball OR at least waged war with myself to fight the urge not to do so.)

To be honest, it took me a long time to admit to myself that I had/have a distraction problem. People would hint at it or make jokes about my being attracted to "shiny objects," but the comments were met with a laugh and not much thought (probably because I was looking at something shiny). I used to make excuses that I was just "that busy and needed to change hats often." As a result the problem took deep root, which makes it that much harder to break. The distractions were not only time-related either. The distractions in which I would get caught were those that would draw my heart away from things that truly mattered as well.

In his book The Screwtape Letters (an absolute must read-if you are a Christian or not), CS Lewis, writes from the perspective of an older, experienced demon (Screwtape) teaching his young nephew (Wormwood) how to be a successful tempter. Screwtape advises Wormwood that no elaborate plan needs to be developed to keep the "patient" (a human) from responding to God's call but that the slight distraction of his appetite or the morning headlines are enough to completely pull him away from the pursuit of God in his life. I have found this to be incredibly true in my life as you may be finding it true with yours even now.

This past Sunday potential distractions were at an all-time high. I was sent to two churches to preach. As we were in the taxi on the way to the first church, the skies looked like rain. Most people in Jamaica do not go out in the rain, especially for Sunday church, as the paths flood and shoes would become muddy and tattered. Before we even began, my mind was racing as to whether or not anyone was going to show up. The first service went well with the rain holding out until about 15 minutes left in the service. However, it then started to rain pretty hard as we headed to the second church. Again the thought was...this is going to be a wash (pun intended). To our surprise and delight, the church was open with people waiting to worship the Lord!

As we began the service, distractions abounded! The rain on the zinc roof was so loud that I was screaming just to greet everyone and commence the service. When the rain slowed and I was able to speak in a normal voice, more people shuffled in, which was distracting. As I began to preach, candy was distributed to the children in the service, which caused a small feeding frenzy. As I was nearing the conclusion and application of the sermon, a girl in the back began to "faint." It took all my energy not to want to simply stop in the middle, call it quits, and/or laugh out loud. There were many things that were trying grab my attention, but I kept reminding myself of God's call for us to be faithful, not necessarily successful by our terms.

Here is the point: I have been thinking about how so many things steal our minds from that which we are called to be focused on and faithful to. Distractions are not always bad; in fact, God might use distractions to get our attention, but the distractions we choose to busy ourselves with often pull us away from what we have been given the responsibility of doing. We may, in our self-inflicted distractions, be creating a white noise that keeps us from the intimacy God desires in our lives. We are scared of quiet time with the Lord so we distract ourselves with being busy instead of truly resting and nourishing our souls. Remember the definition of distraction: something keeping us from giving full attention to something else. "Multi-tasking" is a euphemism for distracting ourselves; multi-tasking with Jesus is always a bad idea.

Join with me in an effort to fight against the temptation to busy ourselves with good things when God desires great things for us. As CS Lewis classically put it, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

There are many thoughts, activities, attitudes, etc. that can be distracting to us here in Jamaica, especially as our cultures are not the same. Pray with us that we will be focused on God in our hearts and minds so that we are not wooed by the headlines or other, lesser, appetites. Grace and peace be with you.