Are You Easily Distracted?

Psalm 39:4-5  NKJV

LORD, make me to know my end,  And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Cerrtainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah 

I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says, "So much to do and so much to distract me from doing it."

I am smiling as I type these words, because this blog post is a perfect example of that expression.

I posted this photo of the rose as a point for meditating on the simple beauty of it.  The next thing I knew I was "google-ing" roses to learn of their history, which led me to a site at a university in Illinois that explained how to care for roses.  This prompted me to go outside to begin trimming my rose bushes, and then I remembered I had left my freshly brewed cup of coffee inside.

I went inside and to get my coffee, which prompted the thought of telling Jack my new knowlege of rose cultivation.  I went back into our back room to tell him, and as we talked, I had the brilliant idea of going to see the Japanese Tea Garden.  We decided to go, in a bit.

I remembered about the blog I was writing and went back to crank it up again.  As I began to type, the keyboard went crazy, so I called my good friend and computer guru, Cavan.

He realized that something called sticky keys had been activated and walked me through the process to disable it.  Realization dawned, the cat had been walking on my keyboard again!

Cavan and I had a good laugh when I told him about the blog post I was writing about getting distracted.  Which led to a fun conversation about cats, computers and chickens!

By this time, my coffee had grown cold so I made myself another, and here I am!  I started this little piece at about 10:00am and now it is 1:15pm and I still haven't finished it, or finished cutting my roses,  or gotten dressed for our jaunt to the park....

Which brings me back to my main point.  Are you easily distracted?  Don't despair, rejoice in the simple moment of beauty all around you.  Stop and smell the roses....squirrel!! 

Anoint the Technology?

Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding. Proverbs 2:2

 
The rain is misting, and as I am sitting, propped up in bed thinking about the Lord and His words, there is a steady dripping sound as the water hits our metal roof. It is a soothing sound to me. After months of drought, I could sit here and listen to it for hours.

The Lord revealed a truth to me in this, however.  Sometimes, even small pleasures can be a distraction from my purpose: to spend time listening to my Jesus. (This is not to say small pleasures cannot be gifts from God...it's in the discerning, does it add to your moment, or steal something away?)  As one who is ADD, I am very easily distracted.  But we don't have to have a label on us, to fall into the same trap of being distracted, when it comes to spending time with the Lord, meditating on His Word, and praying. 

We live in a time of awesome technology and opportunity. So many activities present themselves to us, every moment of every day. Without determined intentionality to focus on the Lord and His thoughts toward us, we can be distracted beyond belief! (This is a double entendre.) Distraction is an intentional attempt to divert someone's attention from what they are doing.The enemy of our souls has so many tools to entice us, tools that humans have invented.

As one who loves all the new toys, I have decided to try something.  I have never given my usage of the computer, phone apps, video games, etc. much thought before.  I have simply tried to apply discipline...sometimes failing miserably. Today, however, as I read Proverbs 2:2, I got the brilliant idea of consecrating all my "stuff" to the Lord.  What does that look like?

I am actually going to get my anointing oil, and anoint everything I use: TV,  DVD players, phone, computers, etc., and ask the Lord to bless them to His service, and for His glory; that He would direct my time as it applies to these things.  I will let you know how it goes. I am actually getting excited to go do it!

I want to be purposeful in obtaining wisdom from God.  This was my "download" from Him today.  I am making my ear to pay attention to wisdom today, and reaching out my inner being to the Lord, for His understanding, as I go about my day.

Blessings, Anna Marie

Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding. Proverbs 2:2