Distraction – The Enemy of Purposeful Action

 

The Greek word for distraction is “aperispasto;” it means to draw away. It is literally drawing away the attention from an original purpose, goal, direction, position, interest, or association.

 

Distraction is one of Satan’s tactics that he uses to prevent us from pursuing the purpose and mission of God for our lives and ministries.

 

The most talked about distractions include:

 

Ø      Prayer (during and after) – We either fall asleep or the phone rings (and we answer it!), unexpected visitors, etc. distracts us from praying effective fervent prayers that avail much!

Ø      Distractions that keep us from going to church – This can range from “I have nothing to wear” to getting into an argument with your spouse, a relative, neighbor, etc.

Ø      Distraction while in church – This could range from someone who keeps kicking the back of your seat, someone hitting you on top of your head as they are being seated behind you to someone “praising” the Lord but really only wants to be seen.

Ø      Distraction from reading and studying the Bible.

Ø      Distraction from spending quiet time with God.

 

There are many other forms that distraction can take. Here are just a few the Lord pointed out to me:

 

Ø      Acquisition and the quest for knowledge. The Bible tells us knowledge can puff a person up (pride).

Ø      Wrong associations and peer pressure – (Yes, adults can fall prey to peer pressure too!).

Ø      A spirit of jealousy

Ø      Anger

Ø      Independence/Self-sufficiency. God calls us to be interdependent, not independent of others, and dependent upon Him alone for every thing that we need.

Ø      Logic and Reasoning. Reasoning and logic will cause us to reject the will and purpose of God for our lives, because we use reasoning and logic to try to gain understanding about spiritual things. What’s born of the flesh is flesh; what’s born of the spirit is spirit and they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. Our lives are a form of worship to God. He is a spirit being so we must commune with Him on the level. There are no substitutes for this in the kingdom of God.

Ø      Spirit of lust. Lust is not only related to sex or sexual immorality. It’s anything that consumes your life and thoughts daily and you have absolutely no power to stop yourself from doing it; it drives and controls you! It could be a lust for women/men, gambling, seeking attention, control, power, Internet or technology, etc. All these and many others can become distractions that Satan uses against us to keep us from fulfilling our purpose, mission or assignment on the earth.

Ø      Accumulation of Material Things.

Ø      Greed and Love of Money. God is not opposed to us making money or accumulating wealth. He said in John 10:10, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,” and 3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” God is opposed to those things having dominion and power over us! God does not want us hoarding these things, because it’s based on a corrupted and wicked heart of selfishness and self-centeredness. These are false gods and our God is a jealous God and will have no other gods before Him! Him only will you worship.

 

If Satan tried to distract Jesus in His wilderness experience and at Capernaum as He was entering into His powerful ministry, rest assured Satan will use the same tactic of distraction against us while we are going through our own wilderness experience and entering into our powerful ministries! We have to get rid of the distraction so that we can get back on the right path toward purposeful action daily! This will brings us to our wealthy place in God so that we can be blessed to be a blessing to the families of the earth!

 

Overcoming Distraction

 

I have experiencing a level of distraction that I had never encountered before. As a result, I had not been productive and found myself spending large amounts of my time and day on things that were not moving me in the direction of my purpose or the vision God had shown me for my life. During my quiet time and prayer and crying to the Lord for help, I believe He has answered me. These are some things that Holy Spirit instructed me to do to overcome my distraction. I believe that it will help anyone else who has been or is currently facing this problem. I am sure there are other things that can be done, but this is what He spoke into my spirit:

 

Ø      Pray. Ask God to help you see His vision for your life and ministry clearly.

Ø      Write the vision of what God has called you to do. Review it early in the morning and before to bed at night, and even periodically throughout the day. Where the will of God is known, acceleration is will take place.

Ø      Set daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals based upon the vision, purpose, will, and mission/assignment God has given specifically to YOU.

Ø      Find an accountability partner who will hold you accountable to what you say you are going to do. In order for this person to be able to do this, you have to share with that person what you are doing. Be sure the person you choose to be accountable to is someone you can trust and is someone who is also working toward her God-given goals and is accountable to someone as well. If that person is struggling herself and is not accountable to anyone, you do not need to partner with that person; it will only be a stumbling block for you.

Ø      Eliminate daily routines that have nothing to do with your purpose or mission or assignment.

Ø      Write down the 3 top things that you need to get done today that is connected to your vision, purpose, etc.

Ø      Allocate a specific day and time for working on those 3 top tasks that you need to get done.

Ø      Focus. Do not do anything else until you have completed the first task before moving on to the next task. Whatever you do not complete on that day simply add it to the next day’s list. Be sure it the first task to work on for the following day.

Ø      Eliminate ALL distractions. The telephone, television, radio, food, unexpected visitors, etc. Whatever you know that easily distracts you, make plans in advance to eliminate them before you even begin to work on your top 3 priority goals or tasks for that given day.

Ø      Give thanksgiving and praise to God for every thing that you were able to accomplish, even if you were unable to finish it! You remained focused, determined, and concentrated fully on the tasks set before you. It is important to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small.

 

When you do these things the enemy will not be able to distract you so easily. If he can break your focus, he will distract you from what you need.