I was reading about the woman in the Bible who wanted healing, and in her great desire, knew if she just touched the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed. The lesson for that story is obviously about faith, but there is more. This woman was focused. Her focus was so entirely on Him, she knew he would heal her.
There are times in my stress, I make bad choices. They aren’t extreme choices, but it does affect the way I feel for the next several hours. When I am stressed, I reach for food. Thankfully, it’s not a major problem for me since my metabolism works it off quickly. But there are times, when I’m distracted by my head running a hundred miles an hour, and when reaching for food, I find myself asking, ‘Why am I getting food? I’m not even hungry!’ Often, then I’ll recognize the culprit. I’m tired! Sometimes I make a good decision and walk away from the desired 'element' and know it will pass while other times, I say, 'oh well, I just won't sleep tonight.' (That's coffee in the afternoon!)
Sometimes, however, when my brain is running at an excessive speed, distractions can be helpful in keeping me from feeling overwhelmed. Other times distractions can be detrimental ---like when I’m writing, because my train of thought is broken, to never be recaptured as the original thought had been!
As life happens, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all that’s going on and all we want is an escape. Sometimes the ‘escape’ is horribly harmful, like alcohol, drugs, or sexual misconduct. For some ‘scrolling on the internet’ is used as a distraction when life is hammering us, for others it's sitting in front of the tv set and just getting lost --or zoning out-- with whatever is on; or gaming or other kind of entertainment on the iPad or computer. For some it's food to the point of being harmful. There's a plethora of ways to distract ourselves, all we need do is listen to the 'lies' from Satan and just do it!
What would happen if we focused on Jesus like the woman who wanted to just touch his garment to be healed? What if we decided to not just ‘touch’ his garment, but to grab onto and hold on tight? What if we were ‘all in’ and decided to sit at his feet through prayer and Bible reading so that our thought process was just focused on God—- what he wants for our life —-where he wants us to be — what he wants us to do— what job or spouse to choose — what ministry he wants us to be involved in — what ways we can help other people — what people we should choose as friends — and this list could go on for days.
Do we even think about including him in the decision —or discussion? Or do we choose the ordinary distractions and just stop thinking about anything for a while?
I wish I could say I always include Him in my decisions; that I talk with Him about everything first. Nope! I can’t say that. I’m human and I make human choices rather than those choices that would bring me not only closer to God, but closer to where He’d like me to be. I’ve gotta work on that. How ‘bout you? Can you relate?
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/search/distraction/
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