{"id":192,"date":"2019-06-01T17:23:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T17:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/?p=192"},"modified":"2020-01-12T10:04:21","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T15:04:21","slug":"distraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/2019\/06\/01\/distraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Distraction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a train (or a thought process) gets derailed, we can say that it was \u201cdis-track-ted.\u201d Ha! That\u2019s a cute pun, but it isn\u2019t really accurate. I checked. It sounds good, but \u201ctract\u201d is from the Latin \u201ctraher,\u201d to pull or drag.\u00a0 \u201cTrack\u201d is from the Dutch \u201ctrekken,\u201d to pull or drag\u2026 Wait a minute, they both mean the same thing but come from two completely different languages! This was really an interesting exercise for me to look for some inspiring word origin connection. I may have found one, but as I type this, I am clearly getting distracted from my intent.<\/strong> As we all know, a distraction is something that takes us away from what we were focused<\/a> on. You can probably see where this is going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And He said, “Come!” And\nPeter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened<\/strong>,\nand beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”(Matthew\n14:29-30)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really like this example of Peter getting distracted and\nsinking.  It shows me the truth in this scripture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nlooking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.<\/strong>”\n(Matthew 19:26)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter was focused on Messiah\u2019s teaching and was exhibiting faith with a Capital \u201cF.\u201d But then, as we humans do, he got distracted by the danger around him.\u00a0 The PHYSICAL danger. He was reminded of the storm around him and lost that focus. I don\u2019t think he lost his Faith, but his focus<\/a> evaporated, and he started sinking.<\/strong> This can happen in many facets of life and with many degrees of consequence. I recently lost my focus while going to my shop to get a tool for a project I was working on and somehow, I ended up rewiring the light above the workbench. My original project took a lot longer than I wanted, but I got a better work light out of the deal.\u00a0 This was not a devastating distraction. But we have all heard stories of people using their phone while driving, and never using the phone or driving again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, yes, we should all be focused and not get distracted; our\nlife will be more productive and fulfilling\u2026 But, Peter was having a spiritual breakthrough in his faith<\/strong> by conquering\nthe physical when the distraction caused him to sink. This, I believe is truly\na devastating distraction, and one that we\nall risk succumbing to<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Do\nnot fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather\nfear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These words of Messiah remind us that the important things\nare not what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. The important things are the\n\u201cassurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Other\nseed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it\nyielded no crop. (Mark 4:7)\u2026”And others are the ones on whom seed was sown\namong the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries\nof the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things\nenter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is starting to sound like I am saying that we need to abandon\nall things physical and \u201cspiritualize\u201d our life. Well, in a sense, yes, I believe\nthat is the ultimate goal. But we also need to prepare for that first. Peter did not step out of the boat until Messiah\ncalled him to do so<\/strong>. Surely Peter went through many physical preparations before\nthat day. Physical preparations cannot be ignored, but God does promise to make\nthose preparations effortless if we follow one simple instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthe Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and\nbothered about so many things; but only\none thing is necessary<\/strong>, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not\nbe taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one thing is necessary. That is, follow the simple\ninstruction.  This is best summarized by\nthe words of Messiah in Matthew (This scripture always reminds me of how God\nprovided for Elijah in 1Kings17:6.):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But\nseek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be\nadded to you\u201d Mat6:33<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these things will be added to you \u2013 not by some miracle so\nthat you don\u2019t need to work, or figure things out, or put forth effort to\nsurvive. But you will be blessed with the\nconfidence and knowledge<\/strong> that the Father will cause everything to work out\naccording to His plan and will. The instruction we need to follow is just one\npoint. You cannot focus on two things; inevitably, the second thing will distract you.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No\none can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,\nor he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and\nwealth. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life<\/strong>, as to what you will eat or what\nyou will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more\nthan food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:24-25)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our job is to focus on one thing \u2013 with diligence and\nendurance. I think Paul was talking about this specifically in 1Thes 5:17 \u201c\u2026pray without ceasing<\/strong>\u2026\u201d  This is what our focus will look like – not\nbeing on your knees all day long (neglecting the physical preparations,) but\nacknowledging God in all things, giving thanks and remembering our commitment\nto Him, submitting to our utter reliance\non Him for everything<\/strong>\u2026 Etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore,\nsince we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay\naside every encumbrance and the sin which so\neasily entangles us<\/strong>, and let us run with endurance the race that is set\nbefore us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for\nthe joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down\nat the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And let us remember that we are not in this alone. We are\nHis children, one body\u2026 Here is an example of how our focus or distraction will\naffect not just ourselves. It would seem that the success of the Bride making\nherself ready depends on our focus. The\nBride is not distracted but focused on Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and\ncarried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness\nin deceitful scheming; but speaking the\ntruth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects<\/strong> into Him who is the head,\neven Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what\nevery joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part,\ncauses the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Ephesians\n4:14-16)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and live\naccording to the spirit and you will not get distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nI say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (Galatians\n5:16)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set\nyour mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians\n3:2)         <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace to you and glory to God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Nate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.paraklesis.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a train (or a thought process) gets derailed, we can say that it was \u201cdis-track-ted.\u201d Ha! That\u2019s a cute pun, but it isn\u2019t really accurate. I checked. It sounds good, but \u201ctract\u201d is from the Latin \u201ctraher,\u201d to pull or drag.\u00a0 \u201cTrack\u201d is from the Dutch \u201ctrekken,\u201d to pull or drag\u2026 Wait a minute, … Continue reading “Distraction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}