Distractions, Captains & Lions
If you are like me, you get distracted easily. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, there is always something shinier to pull my gaze away. It can actually be somewhat of a problem especially when trying to upkeep a blog. I think perhaps it’s just human nature. We have something we need to be doing, usually not something we find to be interesting or fulfilling, and then we get distracted, sometimes even to the point of actually looking for or creating distractions for ourselves. It’s like trying to write a paper with a tab open to YouTube. You know for a fact you ain’t getting any work done with that available to you. It takes some crazy self discipline and self awareness to understand how to do what we need to be doing without letting the distractions get to us.
We Have A Mission
The same is true with our spiritual lives. We as Christians have a mission that we have been left here on Earth to do. I have often wondered why the Lord did not just whisk me up to the air once I got saved. I confess there are many times when I wish He did, but it’s at those times I remember God never does anything without a purpose. He always has a plan within every situation. He is a sovereign God who’s control reaches the minutest aspects of life. God has given me and the rest of His people a mission. This mission is to bring Him glory through the proclamation and sharing of the Gospel. To share and show Christ to all that we are able. It is why we are here. It is why we exist. It is the purpose of our very lives. This is done through our conduct (living our lives in a way that brings hope and grace to people in their despair), our speech (bringing God glory through our conversations as we point people toward Christ), and finally our thoughts. Our thinking is where the distraction battle really takes place. Our thinking controls what we do. We are called to be sober-minded in a world that is intoxicated with self and pleasure. As a good soldier does, we keep our mind on the mission that we have been given.
We Have An Enemy
However, we have an enemy that does everything he can to distract us from our mission. Satan would like nothing more than to lull God’s people into a state of comfort and keep their minds off the job they have been given to do. I believe Satan does this all the time and I believe he uses different means to accomplish this. First, I believe he uses hard and difficult times. We see this is the account of Job when Satan asked God’s permission to basically make Job’s life a living hell in order to cause Job to stumble, grow in doubt and ultimately curse God and die in despair. There are times when Satan will oppress God’s people in order to take their mind off their mission and direct that attention to themselves and their circumstance. Like a ship that is tossed and blown by the wind and waves, it is difficult to keep the ship sailing straight and true without the course being diverted. It takes a skilled and weathered captain to accomplish this feat.
Hard times come to every Christian, but we must realize in this discussion that hard and difficult times are not the only way Satan seeks to distract us. He does this through the good, profitable and joyous times as well. This, I believe, is where Satan is truly the great deceiver. We must remember that Satan is much, much smarter than we are. He has had many more years dealing with fallen man than we have. He knows what buttons to push and what levers to pull in order to get the results he wants. He can use abundance to distract as much as he can use difficulty. When we seem to lack nothing, there is no need for reliance. Our hearts are so easily deceived that even the blessings given to us by God can become idols and steal our affections away from our savior. Family, friends, church, good jobs, financial success and fame, although morally neutral in and of themselves, have the potential to be points of entry for Satan and his deception. This is why we must keep our minds sober. Again remember, Satan is much smarter than your are. We must never never underestimate the depth of his ability to deceive, or the darkness of our own hearts. Satan can’t have your soul, but he can render you useless to the kingdom of God through distraction or compromise. It is true what the Scripture says, he is a lion, prowling through our hearts, seeking to devour us.
We Have A Hope
With all that seems to be against us as Christians, it is very easy to view our situation as impossible and fall into despair. Why try if all we can do is fail? Why even attempt to keep our eyes on the mission we have been given when all seems to be against us?
It is true, the mission is impossible. We do not have what it takes. We can’t win. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to accomplish this. Satan is too strong and our hearts too black for us to have victory.
“But God…”
The greatest two words in all the Bible. God sent Jesus, His Son, whom He loved with an everlasting love to do the work for us. He is the captain that steers the ship through the waves. He is the one that takes our hearts, washes them clean and turns them to flesh. He is the one that takes Satan by the scruff and renders him powerless as he proclaims His victory over sin itself. He is the one that pulls us from the depths of death and cradles us like the scared children we are. He is the one that death could not hold and the tomb could not house. Christ, our sacrifice, our protector, our general, our King. Through Christ, we can live on mission. Through Christ, we can live without fear. Evil is nothing. Death is nothing. Christ is everything. Do not fear Satan or his schemes. The devouring lion is reduced to dread and horror when the Great Lion of Judah comes.
This is the God we serve. This is the God we have the privilege of belonging to. So as you live your life, look to Christ and live on the mission that He has enabled you to do. Trust Him, love Him, proclaim Him, serve Him and live for the One that gave His life for you. He is worth it.
