What is distracting you?

For every task that is out there, there are multiple distractions that can pull us away from accomplishing that task. My months at Patrick Henry Family Services have been a constant series of setting myself straight and marching toward the goal, getting pulled aside and derailed, and asking God to put me back on track. I am guessing that somewhere in your life you experience the same thing.

Maybe it’s a simple household task. You have plans to clean out the garage on a Saturday morning. But someone needs a ride somewhere and a nice cold tea sounds good on the way home so you go through a drive through. You notice you’re on a quarter tank, so why not fill up…. and there’s a discount on car washes today, so you go ahead and do that too. By the time you arrive home from that trip, you’ve lost some resolve and you glance over at your porch where there’s a book sitting next to your favorite lawn chair, and suddenly your spouse is calling you in for lunch and the morning is gone.

Or maybe it’s a habit you are trying to break. You know that routine!

Or it could be a commitment to do things different in your marriage, or to get more involved in church, or to finish a project at work.

I know you know what I’m talking about because it is part of the human condition.

However, in Luke 9:62 Jesus reminds us of this: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I would add that it is not just looking back, but also looking around at the distractions that are there. If I can get sucked into negativity, or spend my time thinking about the latest news at work, or if my mind can be consumed by something that isn’t related at all to what God calls me to do, I can get derailed. I can find myself taking my hands off the plow… or my mind off the task ... to do something else or to think about something else. And the task gets left undone.

I have been having so much fun this summer checking out the pictures that the houseparents have been posting on Facebook. Our kids are having an awesome summer! In their meeting yesterday, i encouraged the houseparents to keep focusing on the kids and what they need… and to not get distracted by all the other junk that can weigh them down.

What is it that is distracting you today from what God has called you to do? Join me in asking Him today, to pull you back to the task at hand. Put your hand back on that plow and don’t look back — or around you. Keep your eyes on Him.