When Distractions Get Louder Than God

If you're like me, you've heard a lot about "being still" and listening to God.  And if you're like me, you puzzle over how to do that.  I often sit in service, during a quiet time, or during worship, trying to center my thoughts on God.  Does that happen?  Not as often as I like.  I'll think about the need to talk to someone after church, or what we're having for dinner, or a project that I need to work on.  I catch myself over and over again with wandering thoughts.

Is it possible to think on God and seek Him first?

Yes.  It takes discipline and training to do that. 

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
2nd Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV

Our minds are under constant attack from several sides.   Our culture is full of distractions that take our eyes off of God and onto material and perishable things.  Think about it, how much time do we spend on the computer?  How much time is spent checking statuses, watching youtube videos about the Star Wars Kid, playing games, or even just watching TV?  I've heard that the average American spends 35 hours a week watching TV.  Can I just say "Wow!"

Beyond the obvious "we need to spend more time with God" I want to emphasize the discipline of training your mind.   Our minds naturally go to the easiest things to think about.  A habit is formed and our brain likes going that direction because it's easy.  It's easy to think about that game level you're working on, or the problem at work, or your daughter's latest drama.  It's not so easy to put our minds on God, on His Glory, on His Majesty, on the Awesome God we love and serve.  It's a battle and we need to spend more time in that battle.  Don't be mediocre.

How do we change our habits?  How do we discipline ourselves to put the priority where it needs to be?

We make choices.  We choose the good things and discard the mediocre and lukewarm habits.  Yeah, it's not something that is easy.  Changing habits is hard, but the end result is a stronger and more vibrant walk with God. 

I'm not saying all entertainment is bad, but when anything, whether movies, spouses, money, or books become bigger than God, then we have to seriously examine our lives.  Entertainment can be a good thing to have, but in moderation.

Our Action Steps

Brianna and I have recently been convicted that we spend too much time focused on trivial things.  We decided that to start our minds on better tracks, that we needed to trim some of the time wasters we fill our lives with. I recently wrote about What Place Does Our Computer Hold and that started us thinking about where our priorities should be.  Thus for the month of February we're avoiding watching movies or TV shows, taking a break from Facebook and spending more time with God and with each other. 

It's only been three days, but we're already feeling more connected with God and our minds seem to be working better. 

Yes, we're still using the computer, but it's limited to being a tool. 

The voices are loud and they can drown out God's voice.  Remove the voices and you can hear Him more.

Meet us in the comments and tell us how you deal with the distractions in this world.  How often do you check in with God?