Everyone knows about distractions! We all have a little ADD in us and
When I was 18, a senior in HS, I was cruising around town on a Friday night with my girlfriend (as you do in a small town in Oklahoma). And we sat at the stop light, looking longingly in each others eyes. I leaned in for a kiss and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the light turn green. I let out the clutch and started creeping forward with the other cars. Only problem is that we were in the turning lane and the giant van in front of us wasn’t going anywhere. I ran right into the back of this van.
Can you say DISTRACTED. Whoops.
Distraction: something that prevents someone from giving their attention to something else
>>>When you are not focused, distractions or damaging.
Let’s look at the story of Jesus’ birth and talk about some characters who did not let distractions detract them from their goal.
Matthew 2:1-3, 7-12
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
…
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
>>>When you are focused on the wrong things, distractions are distressing.
Magi journeyed tracking the star to bring gifts and worship this king. Best projection of timeline is that they traveled at least 6 months to no more than 2 years (as Herod gave execution order for children 2 and under.)
Another definition of DISTRACTION: extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
“Herod and all the people of Bethlehem were disturbed”…distracted. Have you felt this? Is this Christmastime doing this to you? Does life have you in this dark space?
If so, let me give you some help today with distractions. Even if you’re not, these are good practices to have in your toolbox. We’re going AIM at them:
Acknowledge distractions - identify them.
Ignore distractions - put blinders up.
Mitigate distractions - set boundaries.
PEACE is our theme word and this is something the world does not know, not know very well. Jesus came to give peace but his flavor is like the worlds (the STUFF from last week, substances, sex, etc). (John 14:27)
And distractions are NEVER just going to go away. They will ALWAYS show up.
>>>So, when you’re focused on the RIGHT thing, the DISTRACTIONS don’t matter.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus is the Prince of Peace, he promises to give us peace. And here we hear him say that he will give us REST. You’ve heard RIP - rest in peace. But that’s only a sentiment for people who have died. Here, it is for us, and means we can have rest IN our work, in the midst of our going, in the face of our distractions. And this, ladies and gents, is PEACE.
If you need PEACE today, if you need REST, would you come to Jesus, and LET GO OF YOUR DISTRACTIONS?
#TravelLight
#LettingGoOfDistractions
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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