Distractions - Part II
Last week, I shared the cute story about my son running off the soccer field when he was delightfully distracted by a beautiful dragonfly and how we can all be easily distracted, even by lovely things, when we are not held accountable by our "teammates" in life. God gives us true friends and companions who help keep us on the right path towards God's best for our lives.
Today, I want to share about another type of distraction that can derail us from our eternal purpose:
2. The Comparison Game.
If you've ever visited or lived in Los Angeles, you will discover the terrible labyrinth that we like to call "traffic". It is a whole other beast unlike most places in the world and I have the "privilege" of driving in it everyday to get to work. On average, it takes me at least 45 minutes to an hour to drive 12 miles each way to my job. Not fun.
When I first began driving my daily commute, I tried to find the fastest way to get through traffic. I would skip to different lanes that looked like they were moving only to see the car that I was just in front of passing me by quickly. Ugh! It was a painstaking game that I could not understand.
After several days of this monotony, I finally decided to stay in one lane and just inch my way with the rest of the daily commuters. To my surprise, I actually got home at the same time as usual but without the stress of trying to beat traffic.
This may sound really dumb, but I feel like L.A. traffic represents my life. So often I want to be in the fast lane getting ahead and when I move over into the other lane where I think people are going faster, then I look back only to see my original spot move ahead.
The same is true when I compare myself to others; I get off course and then lose out on the good things that could have come if I had just waited. My envy, jealousy, greed and self-made schemes caused me to be distracted and, in the end, it actually cost me more time and brought more pain.
This is not a new distraction. It's been around since the beginning of time and is still one of the greatest ways that Satan can sidetrack us from the good work that God wants to do in and through our lives. The Apostle Paul said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith" (Hebrew 12:1-2b NLT).
We can all get easily distracted by comparing our lives to others. It's so easy to envy someone who has something you want, and it may be something very good like a baby, dog, job, house, vacation, family, etc. But if we allow that desire to build jealousy and bitterness within our hearts, then it will consume us, slow us down and take us in the wrong direction. The end result is a life that feels empty, purposeless, unsatisfied and disappointing. On the flip side, when we learn to correct our vision quickly, wait patiently for the answers to our prayers and keep our eyes on the many ways God has been good to us, it will allow us to keep our focus on the lane He wants us to drive with Him.
*If you've struggled with distractions or anything that you would like to talk with me about, please email me so that I can pray with you. None of us are ever meant to go through this life and human struggle alone. (themodernfemale (at) gmail.com)
