Let go of Distractions

I told that story about my mom last week and the sweater so I did what any good son would do. I spoke to her about it to let her know I shared the story. And you know what she ends up telling me.

She still has my gradution cap and gown…my uniform from ROTC in high school, and I knew this one but my grandmother still has all my sports trophies from being a kid plus my car how trophies.

But wait…it gets better. At some point in the las few months my mamaw had put my trophies out in her shed. Becuase they have been up in her guest room for well..I”m 36 now…so yea. But after putting them out there, she couldn’ stand it so she got them and put them back up.

Theres somthing sweet about it but, odn’t let stuff of this world keep you from following Jesus. Relinquish ownership and give or throw it away.

Today. I want to talk to you about letting go of distractions.

Character-busy but not productive

Do you ever get distracted during your day?

Believe it or not, the average employee experiences 60 distractions a day. Even if each interruption only wasted a minute of work time, that would still result in over an hour of productivity lost each day. 36% of Millennials and Gen Z spend 2+ hours per work day distracted by their phones.

I was having a convrsation with someone recently talking about notifications on cell phones. I have 95% of mine turned off for this very reason. You 5011 of them throughout the day adn you never actuallyy get anyhing done.

I’ve read somewhere that when you get distracted from the task you are working on it takes an average of 15 minutes to get back to the place you were in regards to focus and productivity.

Let’s assume each of those 60 distractions lasted one minuted. And then 15 minute to return to focus and prodcutivity…tthat’s 15 hours of your day impacted by distractions.

This is why there is a plethroa of books being written about time mangement, how to focus, and other things of that nature.

One of the more populare matrixes used to help with this sort of thing is the urgent and important matrix.

4 quadrants: 1. Urgent, Important, 2. Important, not urgent, 3. Urgent, not important, 4. Not important, not Urgent

Examples:

Crying baby, house fire, SOME calls

Vocation, exercise, Planning

Distractions phone calls, interuptions

Trivial busy work, time wasters

all of the things you do can be grouped into this matrix. You ideally want to be working in quadrant 2. Important, but not urgent.

Many of us don’t sttay there though do we?

Becuase we don’t do whats in quadrant 2, we find ourelves staying a victim of the urgent in quadrant 1. And the reason we aren’t handling quadrnt 2 things is becuae we have allowed for quadrnts 3 and 4 to

What happens to us when we live this way?

Problem-Get things done but not productive.

I bet you accomplish things. I mean responding to a text, getting to another level in candy crush or royal match is completing a task right? Binging anotther show on netflix or watching ONE mroe reel is technically completing something…right?

Or maybe your more of the important not urgent person who responds immediately to every text tthat comes through. Every email you get, your responding to.

If the phone rings you must answer…Someone said your name, you must give them your attention...

You see, I heard a great quote the other day. IF the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.

Now, that’s not to say busy is sin, becuase you can be busy about your father’s business. But if we each sat back and took stock of our life, how many of u qwoul d say we are busy about spending time with Jesus over the other things we are busy about?

What happens when we allow ourselves to be so consumed by the things happening around us?

Agitated- Live under stress, anxiety, fear, and constant state of being unfilfilled

Pastor Craig Groeschel has said The devil doesn’t have to destory you if he can distract you.

When he distracts you, you will do that yourself.

So much of my problems in life come from not being focused on Christ and His kingdom.

I do not belive God intended for us to feel like failing unfulfilled stressed out people all beccuase of the less important matters and distractions we give ourselves over too.

Why? becuase I believe it will ultimately led to our destruction.

When this topic of distraction comes up, many who have heard the bible taught for just about any period of time you often thnk of one person.

Her name is Martha. and Martha is the sister of Mary. based on what we see I’m going to guess she is the older sister and in our verse today she is in the presence of Jesus…but she’s distracted.

Luke 10:38–39 “38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.”

Solution-Purposefully and intentionally choosing Jesus

Mary, Mary had found the solution to the constnt hustle an bustle of life. Sh had foudn the remedy, she chose Jesus over the distractions.

Now, I picked on my wife last week so I won’t do it again this week. I’ll pick on myself.

Have you ever been laying in bed or abotu to get ready for bed and your midn goes “Hey…remember that hting you wanted to look up? Remember that thing you meant to do? Tht email you meant to send? That text you didn’t respond to?”

Ever had tthat happen? Or maybe you are at the table with your family and your text notification goes off? email? Phone rings?

I have!

You are then presented with a choice…do I answer? Do I respond? Do I distract myself from this important family time together do I choose the greter thing?

Do I wake up to social and email or do I wake up to Jesus and His Word?

Do I go to God in prayer or do I frett and worry?

These small purposeful decisisons will impact how you handle the bigger more important decisions.

Mary and Martha had welcomed Jesus into their home just like some of you are used to your parents or grandparents doing at Thanksgiving.

And while the family is enjoying time togeher ogten you can find grandma or some one in the kitchen, coocking, cleanaing, prepping, doing somethting different than spending time with the famiyl that is there.

Making sure the casserole is just right or all the dishes are put into the dishwasher precisley as they are supposed ot be, becuase apparently there is a wrong way to load a dishwasher...

Martha being distracted by all the things that coudl be done, was not realizing the importance of the one thing that SHOULD be done.

Luke 10:40 “40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”

Were the things Martha was doing wrong?

Paying bills, Christtmas shopping list creation, cleaning up, trying to figure out which tupperware lid goes to with which bowl

All Mary did was bring the tupperware…

Here the thing. The choice between what you should be doing vs what you could be doing is ctually less liekly to be good vs bad.

Should I go jump on the trampoline or make my budget? Should I purchase $300 of starbucks right nwo with my last $300 or pay my light bill?

In those scenario there i an obvious right and wrong and good or bad. Hoqwever most of your decisions are going tto be between good and best.

How do you choose what is best? How do you set yourself up for success to choose the bettter thing or the more needful tthing?

1. Decrease distractions

1 Corinthians 7:35 “35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

1 Corinthians 7:35 CSB

35 I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

What is the most common distraction we have in our day? Everyone at the same time, say it...

Phone.

Studies are showing that we pick up, look at, or toucch our phones once every 12 minutes.

It’s no wonder we can’tt think deeply, cary on intimate converstions, or spend productive time with Jesus…we are constantly looking for that dopamine hit of a bright colors, notificcations, or some other means by which we are allowing ourselves ot be impacted by this small item that is meant ot be a help. When in rellity it is leading more to our destruction

Productivyt is killed, relationships suffer, and our walk with God is negatively impacted resulting in our entire lives being negativly impacted…all becuase of the dopamine hit we get when we look at our phones.

I tried this for some time and rpobably need to go back to it but did you know you can turn the colors off on your phone? Why is that important?

Studies on apes showed that when they were given cell phones with full color there were dopamine and good feeling receptors firing in the brain like crazy and they would stay on it for a long time.

When given a phoen without the color, it changed. They wouldn’t stay on them sa long. They didn’t interest them as much.

Did you know the average person spends 2 hours pr day on social media? That’s not including email, text message, games, the bible app (hopefully), netflix binging...

At just 2 hours per day, assuming 70 years of life as the bible promised and a cell phone t 10 yers old which i a common age nowadays, that would mean the person spend 5 years of their life staring at a device.

5 years…Scrolling, cliccking, feeling left out, feeling like your not enough because of the lives everyone else is leading.

Busy…consusmed…distracted…with what? anohter goal in candy crush? Getting one more like on Facebook?

What if we saw distrction as sin? What if we treated it like sometthing that detracts from the lives we live for Christ?

Proverbs speaks of sin as an immoral woman. What if we treated distrction the same?

Proverbs 5:8 “8 Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house:”

Itt doesn’t say to invite over for a drink or play truth or dare on the porch.

Don’t get close and when possible eliminate the option.

I told oyu lst week I had to go through my closet. This week I’m working out the logistics to go one month without access to the distractions on my phone. Haven’t got it 100% figured out yet but I hope to have a dry phone january and write a little about the exprience. Maybe you would want to join me for accountability. Let me know.

You may look at me…pastor…that’s crazy.

Listen, I’m no different than you. I tell people often..remember, I”m not the 50+ year old pastor who has been doing this forever. I’m 36 with a fmaily, a podcast, and a desire to use my plaatorm for the kingdom. I find myself interacting on social oftten. I find myself suffering from distractions. I have to take my own preching and apply it if I ever expect you too right?

So that will be fun.

Ddecrease the distractions and

2. Fixate with a faith-filled focus

If you want to be successuful in life, and let me give a quick definition of success. It not’s a monetary amount, it’s not a status, it’s faithful obedience to God.

God’s deign for yyour success will be different than others. The question of achieving that success is not about how much of something you have it’s about how faithful you have been.

Proverbs 4:25–26 “25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.”

Proverbs 4:25–26 CSB

25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. 26 Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

Having a fixed purpose allows you to make decisions on a daiyl basis towards that purpose. What is your purpose?

Have you ever seen this picture?

This is of Phillipe Petite in 1974 between the World Trade Centers.

While he is walking across this what do you think his main purpose is?

Don’t die? make it to the other side? I wonder what my fantasy team is doing? What’s for lunch today?

What would happen if his mind wondred like that and he didn’t bring it back to the main purpose? He would die, he could fall, he would fail.

If we allow our lives to cintinue to be distracted without intentional intervnetion from us, we can expect the same results.

Peter walking on water proved this.

When focused on Jesus, no storm could hurt him. Took eyes off Christ and what Christ had called him to, he began to sink.

YYour life is no different. your day today is no different. Whil there are practial things you can do to help you focus on a daily basis you have to see the vital importance those practical decisions play in your spiritual life.

We make these deicsions by faith. Becuase it may seem better to us to take care of the lesser thing like Martha did. Howver, As Jesus said Mary was doing the more needful thing. Sometimes it takes faith to allow yourself to not care for the thing that could cause anxiety, get you behidn in some way, or keep you up at night. Why? not because it doesn’t need ot be done, not because it’s not important, because Jesus said there was a more needful thing for you to focus on that the things of this world that are weighing you down.

If you can’t turn your phone way for 12 minutes to accomplish a task, can you turn your phone away for 12 minutes to read your bible? To pray? To have an intimate conversation?

For me, I hav to constantly remind myself to be more focused on expriences over hings and people over productivity. I gett it wront somettimes though.

Which is why this lastt one is so important.

We Decrease distraction, fixate with a faith filled focus, and

3. Listen to the Lord

Isaiah 30:21 “21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

The important part about this statement and this undertnding is tht anything you believe you heafr from God and no matter what method you believe you heard it, will always be based on and aligned with His Word.

God wil not speak to you with contradiction from His Word.

He wil speak to you thorugh His Word. He will spek to you through music. He will peak to you through people, He will speak to you through preching. In fact, for me, major life deciion have been impacted and made because of the preching of the Word of God.

And it was never in contradiciton to what He said.

This is one area that enrages me, or better said fill me with righteous indignation...

The misuse of scripture, the abuse of scripture, and the use of a the Bible out of context to manipulate or control people.

God will never speak to you in a way that would lead you away from Him. He is too good, He is to loving, He is too caring, He is too concerned with greater matters than the trivial things of this world that we elevate to high positions in our mind and will speak to you in such a way to always bring you back to Him.

Becuase that’s what He wants more than anything. Is to be with you.

John 15:4 “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”

That is the “secret” to success. That is what God is showing me and somehting I’m learning to walk in daily. If I am with Him, I will be nourisched as a branch attached to a vine. Then, all the things I do will be for Him. But I can’t consume myself with what I do for Him, I’ve done that before, I have to consume myself with being with Him

Being with Him as I respond to my spouse. As I listen to music, as I speak to my co-workers, as I love my children, as I live this life.

And the easiest way for the devil to keep you from listening to God is not by making you sin, it’s by making you distracted.

It’s by keeping yyou so busy you forget to spend time with him. It’s by keepingy ou so busy you forget why your even living.

It’s by shouting at you to over power the still small voice of God.

Here’s the thing…remember this…As a follower of Jesus the devil has no power over you that you don’t give Him.

He is not God. He is not he brother of Jesus, He is is a fallen angel that has to go to God to make a move.

1 John 4:4 “4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

If the devil has a seat at your tablet o make deciions in your life it’s becuae you pulled out the chair and put Him there. Don’t blame God for what you are allowing the devil to do in your mind and heart because you don’t get away from the things that are distracting you from serving Him.

Nehemiah of the Old Testament had a great task ahead of Him. However he had some people come nd try to ditract Him. Sanballa and Tobiah were distracting Him from finishign the work God had called Him to do.

Maybe you have some people in your life distracting you from wht God has called you to. It’s not wrong to reduce or eliminate contact in a kind and loving way to puruse Christt more. Remember, we love Him for than we love our family nd tthis world.

Your life is too valluable, your calling is too great, and your God is too good fro you to waste your life...

Resolution- Live intentionally for Jesus/for people

Choosing ot live intentionally for Jesus will change the way you approach your life and the people in your life.

Choosing to not allow distractions to keep you from what God has called you to will put you on course to live a life well for Jesus tht results in “well done thy good nd faithful servant, enter into the house of your Lord.”

Impact-Negative: Busy, frustrated, hurt. Positive: Peoples lives changed b/c of your focus

You can walk away today and choose to remain in he rat race of life consumed by all there is tod o and have in this World. You can choose to be busy and frustrated, you can choose to continually allow yourself to be distracted by the thoughts, the images, and eveyrthing that comes your way bc of social media and the other various mediums you consume content.

And waht will happen becuase of it? The devil will gain a greater foothold in your life and the lives of those around you. The love of Jesus and the gospel message will be quenched by the devil and his distractions you allow in your life.

Or you could choose to being identifying distractions and removing them one at a time. You could begin to see your life as so much more than the pursuit of health, wealth, and happiness andd actually have it be lived for a greater cause, the cause Christ called you to.

Sharing His love with those around you in order to invite them into the family of God by sharing the gospel with them.

Your family needs you less distracted and more focused on Jesus.

Your church needs you less distracted and more focused on Jesus

Your commnunity…and you need yourself to be less distracted and more focused on Jesus...

So what are you going to do? What is one distraction you will set aside this week to adibe with jesus?