Off Focus? Get Rid of Distractions

Photo by Zulmaury Saavedra (unsplashed)

Have you ever had your day all mapped out with a “To-Do List” or “Goals To Accomplish” for the day or the coming week, when, wham, along comes someone or something to disrupt your day or plans for the week! Well join the club! What we are being confronted with are distractions.

Distractions bring about confusion and if not dealt with, can in the long-term cause stress in our lives. I unfortunately had to learn this experiential lesson the hard way.

Before going to bed each night I would make a To-Do List for the next day’s tasks. I would then get up the next day rearing to go; turn computer on, place work on desk according to urgency, then it happened! The dreaded phone call, with someone on the other end needing help (family members). I would stop what I was doing and make their emergency my problem. These emergencies would involve me either making phone calls or leaving my office to put out their fires. My work was put on the back burner, putting me weeks and in some cases months behind. After several months of doing this and becoming moody and irritable with self and others, it was time to seek Father God for solutions. His answer was say “No” other people’s poor planning is not your emergency, He said. I ask Him about Philippians 2:4 which read “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” So, Father God gave me Galatians 6:4‭-‬5 “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.”

The scripture in Philippians pertains to individuals who truly need help and are incapable of helping themselves. Whereas, in Galatians 6:4-5 we are instructed to take care of our own work. John Gill’s commentary states: “But let every man prove his own work. Not concern himself about the actions and works of others; let him review his own heart and actions; let him examine, try, and prove his whole conduct in life by the rule of God’s word, when he will find enough at home, without bearing hard upon, and censuring others:”

We are not to dump what we can do for ourselves onto another. We are to examine our motives for always wanting another to bail us out of situations. God has given us all gifts and talents and when we far short of that, then we are to seek His wisdom for our needs.

Finally, I learned constant distractions, keeps us from quality time that should be spent with the Lord. We need to stay connected with Him for fuel and energy for our journey. Father God has a beautiful plan for each of us, but if we are too busy trying to be little god’s for others we will never realize what Father God has planned for our journey with Him.

Next time you feel yourself overwhelmed doing what others can do for themselves, then it is time to examine their motives and yours for allowing constant distractions. Ask yourself:

1. Is this individual capable of doing this task for themself?

2. Are you enabling this person by always rescuing them?

3. Can you say “no” to this person without feeling guilty?

4. Finally, are these distractions keeping you from completing the work Father God has called you to do?

Pray over your decision-making and ask Father God for discernment in this area, because God says, we are to carry our own burdens! Conclusion, distractions and confusion are not of God they are schemed by satan to keep us from doing what God has called us to do.

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