Distractions

Psalm 119:15 “I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.” NLT

The day had finally come. My husband and I had embarked on a road trip...without our kids! What luck! We were driving to Little Rock for a long weekend to ride our bikes on the Arkansas River Trail, something that we hadn’t been able to do for two years. We had always ridden the bike trails around our home and in this area with our children, and today, we were anxious to see what we could do, and how far we could go on our own. He drove, and I navigated us to a parking area where we could park the car and mount our bikes, but about a mile before we arrived, he was flagged down by a motorcycle cop. What did we do wrong, I thought.

Speeding. He evidently was speeding. He had no idea what the speed limit even was, and I honestly, didn’t even care. He got a ticket, and the guy was a little snotty about it too. Tensions were high in the car as he rolled his window up and drove away. I didn’t say a word, just looked straight ahead, and held my breath for what I thought he was going to say. 

You see, my husband is a brooder. I despise brooding. Why can’t he just go ahead and state his feelings and get it out of his system! But no, he’s a brooder, and when things go wrong, he likes to contemplate all of the facets of the situation...for days! I honestly thought in that moment that he was going to say that he didn’t feel like riding his bike and that we should just go to the hotel. But he didn’t! Shocked, I just sat in the car while he unloaded our bikes and got our water bottles ready to go. 

Distractions come in all shapes, sizes, situations, and even satisfactions. Usually, they are things that keep us from doing the things we want to do, the things we know we should be doing, and the things we must do. That day, I’m glad that my husband decided that, instead of brooding over a situation that he could do nothing about, we would go on our bike ride as planned and let nothing stop us from enjoying our day.

Satan loves to throw curve balls when we least expect it. It may come in the form of a speeding ticket, bad news at work, an unexpected bill, or an illness that keeps us from working out longer than we really needed. Distractions turn our desire and focus from the Lord to the situation at hand. Instead of focusing on walking on the path that God has laid out for us, we get sidetracked by the flowers on the side, the roadkill in the middle, and flat tires on the way.

But the psalmist here pulls our attention back to God. He will think upon, ponder, keep his thought process focused on the Lord. He will continuously ponder the Word of God. Satan will try to distract us, but we must intentionally direct our thoughts back to Him. 

How do we do that? 

1. Memorize Scripture. His Word will not return void!
2. Make sure you spend time in the Word and in prayer daily, preferably in the morning so that your thought process is set for the day ahead.
3. Pray that He will remind you and make you aware that you have become distracted. He is faithful!
4. Rebuke Satan. The Scriptures say that he will flee!

What distractions have pulled your focus away from the things you are trying to accomplish? What areas of your life is God trying to work? Focus your thoughts, contemplate His Word, and renew the vision for your life.

Encouragement for Today

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” NKJV

Matthew 24:13 “But those that endure to the end will be saved.” NIV

Comparison

Click below to view my blog posted today on Joy From Grace

Comparision...The Fastest Stealer of Joy

Weight Lifting is Boring

1 Peter 5:10 “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” NLT

There’s one aspect of physical fitness that I have not yet learned to embrace. Running, cycling, endurance, sit-ups, calisthenics, and nutrition in general were all struggles, but with time, I’ve conquered and learned to love them. However, weight lifting...I don’t like it. It’s hard. It’s boring. And it hurts....for days at a time. I just don’t understand it, I guess. I mean, you just stand there, doing the same thing over and over again, and there’s nothing to do to distract your attention from the fact that your internal flesh is ripping at that very moment. It hurts too. Sore muscles are a good thing when I think of how my workout must’ve really been a great one. But when it hurts for days at a time, and it’s already time for your next weight building session, I despise it. In fact, I’ve neglected that part of my fitness journey more than I’ve actually performed it because, in case I didn’t mention...it’s hard, it’s boring, and it hurts. 

Strength building in our spiritual life is kind of the same way. It’s hard, it’s boring, and most of all, it hurts. But how do we get stronger in our spiritual life, and how do we learn to trust God? It’s only through trials that we learn how to trust. It’s only when I face hardship in my life today that I get to experience the faithfulness of God. Oh, it’s good when I remember all of the times God’s been faithful and all of the times that He’s brought me through the storms of life. But today when I face new obstacles that I hadn’t anticipated, I have a greater strength in knowing that the same God who has always been faithful is the same God that stands with me today. 

In our Scripture, Peter reminds the church as a whole that sufferings on this earth are only temporary, and in fact, are only momentary compared with the span of eternity. We can rest assured that after we have “suffered a little while,” that He will place us then on a firm foundation. It’s only through the hardships of life, holding to the faithful hand of God, that we become stronger in Him. 

As I lift weights, I can trust that this hard, boring, hurting exercise is necessary if I want to grow and stay strong. It’s not enough for me to simply run or ride my bicycle, simply burning calories, but if I want to be physically strong, I have to go through some strength training. Yes, it is hard, boring, and painful, but it’s only momentary, and will provide me with strength.

Are you facing a hardship today? What trials are you facing that seem so painful right now? Remember, they’re only temporary. And from these trials, you will get stronger!

Encouragement for Today

Proverbs 31:17 “She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.” NASB

James 1:12 “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” NLT

Romans 8:18 “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” NLT

Endurance

Romans 5:3-6 “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance, develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” NLT

I couldn’t wait to try out my new toy. My husband and I had just embarked on a new adventure of becoming healthier in our bodies and creating a healthier environment in our home. We scoured the area thrift stores and sales ads, carefully buying used exercise equipment so that we could build our own home gym. Our latest find from the used sporting goods store was a new-in-the-box row machine. What luck! We brought it home, set it up, and I quickly jumped on to try it out. It was smooth, the tension was just right, and I could feel my heart rate rising almost instantly. Suddenly, the temperature in the room shot up, and I was breathing heavily. “Wow, this thing really works! Those fitness experts really know what they’re talking about when they recommend rowing! I’ll try this out for 5 minutes today. After all, this is only my first day” I thought. 

I didn’t make it through the first five minutes. After only three minutes, my legs and arms felt like stretched out balloons, and I literally fell on the floor beside the thing in a heap, breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and convinced that this thing was created by Satan himself as a torture device. “I hate it,” I told my husband in a breathless wail. I didn’t touch the thing again for a week. When I got back on, my goal was 5 minutes again. This time, I only lasted 2 minutes. It was worse the second time around!

Romans chapter 5 begins a section of Scripture, where Paul expounds upon the theology of assurance and hope. Starting in verse 3 of chapter 5, Paul explains that endurance is developed through problems and trials. If we are ever going to experience salvation, newness of life, we must initially go through some problems and trials. 

No one wants to face problems, heartaches, relationship failures, illness, or financial ruin, but all of the things we face here on earth can be used by God to bring us into a greater trust of Him. Our text today says that when we go through these times, they produce endurance. And endurance produces a strong character. And then building on that, a strong character develops a “confident hope of salvation” (verse 4). 

Whenever we face problems of any kind, we can rest assured of two things. First, God is with us. And secondly, we read in our text that we can rejoice in our sufferings because they produce valuable qualities in our character. Then in verse 6, we read that Christ comes at just the right time, when we were utterly helpless. 

When we feel that problems are overwhelming, we can rest assured that God Himself will come at just the right time, but meanwhile, we can journey on, developing that endurance, strong character, and the confident hope of salvation.

The days of struggling with the despised row machine have long passed, and I’ve even been able to build up some endurance to put in a full workout. Being consistent in performing the exercise needed to build up my endurance was all it took to build the strong character I needed. 

When we start a new workout routine, things are just that...new. But we can rejoice in the new obstacles we face, confident that it will bring about endurance. And the endurance will make us strong. 

Encouragement for Today

Hebrews 10:36 “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” NLT

James 1:2-4, 12 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing... God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” NLT