The Christian women of this world are a silenced army. Silenced by distraction. Distraction is a sly weapon used by the enemy. Distraction keeps us focused on good and bad things so we will miss the God things in our lives.
Distraction will keep us following whatever life throws at us, and distraction makes everything in our lives except God urgent. Distraction has a snowball effect, and if you open the door to it, distraction can take away your whole life, one day at a time.
There are a variety of distractions: keeping up, getting ahead, fitting in, chasing dreams, building a life, climbing the ladder, shattering ceilings, and holding on for dear life to everything you want over everything God wants for you and to do through you.
“I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.” 1 Corinthians 7:35 NLT
We are not victims of distraction; we are volunteers. Distraction will hold our attention for as long as we are willing to let it. Distraction is a choice.
The first year my kids attended school online was tough. We had to discipline ourselves to stay focused. I say ourselves because I was right there with them during school, and I was just as easily distracted as they were.
We would start our day strong, fizzle a bit before lunch, come back from lunch wired, and then fizzle again around midday. After a few months, we figured out what worked for us and things were going smoothly. For some reason though, our school days were getting longer and longer, and I couldn’t figure out why.
My kids, being the brilliant people that they are, learned how to distract me. They knew if one of them started singing that I would join in. They knew if there was a bird out the window and they pointed it out to me, I would encourage everyone to get up to look at the bird. They knew which topics would keep me talking and would distract me from the project we were working on. My precious little angels were playing me like a fiddle.
It wasn’t until they had to do school work well into the evening that they realized that distracting Mom (so they didn’t have to do their work) was only hurting them.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. I figured out what my littles were doing early on, but I let it play out. I knew if I were always telling them about the consequences of distraction, they wouldn’t believe me. They would think I was taking their fun away or being too hard on them, so I let them feel the pain of distraction so they would stop searching for it.
Changing the world for Jesus is hard work: It takes discipline. It will require us to silence distraction. We are reaping the consequences of distraction from generations before us who were unwilling to do the hard work, but instead found relief and solace in distraction.
Women, the army of God no longer has the luxury of time to be distracted. We can no longer succumb to it, or search for it. The world needs every single one of us focused, disciplined, and ready to change the world for Jesus. Our time on this earth is short, but our impact will last for generations. If we want to pass on hope past our lifetime, we will have to set aside the distractions of this world and put into focus the importance of living our lives on purpose.
“So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, making the best use of your time because the times are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 ISV
“Make the best use of your time,” means we have to take time seriously—it is finite while we are on this earth. Each minute that passes is a minute spent, a minute invested, or a minute wasted. We choose how to spend our time, and once spent, we can never get it back. Time can be full of purpose and impact or it can be wasted and squandered. What is the best use of your time? What gets all of your focus and attention? Are you living on purpose or chasing the distractions the enemy throws on your path? How you spend your time and your life pursuits is your choice, but distraction cannot dictate how you spend your life—it can only tempt you to follow it.
“But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.” Mark 4:19 NLT
Distraction: the thief of focus, the thief of purpose, and the thief of time.
This article is an excerpt from The Silenced Army, by Nicole Chavez.
