There is a reason it seems as though everyone around you is getting exactly what you want, yet it continues to be out of reach for you. What you’re experiencing is a scheme of the enemy to taunt you about the unfulfillment of your legitimate dreams or desires, by flaunting someone else’s blessing. This scheme is called distraction.
Have you ever noticed that when you or someone that you know acquires a particular make and model of a vehicle that you begin to see that type of vehicle a lot more? It is the same with your own unfulfilled dreams.
All of a sudden, everyone is building or acquiring a home. Suddenly everyone around you is getting married or finding their soul mate. Suddenly, it seems as though everyone is pregnant or posting with their new bundle of joy. All around you people are finally landing their dream job, completing their degree, writing a book, starting their business and you, you feel stuck.
As happy as you may feel for others, you can’t seem to shake those feelings of disappointment and brokenness, and so you begin to label yourself with the big ‘F’ word! Yup, you’re now calling yourself a failure, well at least you feel like a failure. Many young people suffer from low self-esteem and depression because each time they scroll through their social media feeds, their feeling of inadequacy deepens.
I believe that distraction is a catalyst for comparison and that it is also at the heart of discontentment among the Church. "But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Corinthians 10:12). Distraction is a cunning device of the enemy of which we must constantly be aware so that we do not let discontentment consume us. If you are wandering into the thorny thicket of distraction then I hope that these points will help to reorient and refocus you.
Distraction is a device of the devil to make you a spectator in someone else’s story rather than an active participator in your own
For the duration of a good football match, many people immerse themselves in the game in solidarity with the players and ecstatically celebrate each victory. However, as connected as they may feel to the players and the team, they are only the spectators. The truth is that it is always easier to be a spectator who observes, comments and criticizes, without the training, commitment, and endurance required of the players. The hearts of all West Indian cricket fans were breaking after two successive defeats in the T20 World Cup recently. However, a player’s hurt when he or she loses, or their elation, personal fulfillment, and financial reward when they succeed can in no way be likened to that of someone who is merely a spectator. I encourage you to focus on the task which has been assigned to you. Focus on your own life, focus on where you are and where the Lord wants to take you, and so reap the reward of being a player in your own game than a spectator in someone else’s.
Distraction is a device of the devil to attack your purpose and keep you living a substandard and unfulfilled life
The problem with distractions of any kind is that it endangers the life of the person who is distracted. Distracted drivers, workers or caretakers, are all likely to cause harm to themselves and others when they do not pay careful attention to their primary task. Parents can become distracted by a secondary task such as correcting noisy children in the backseat of a car, but this distraction may usurp the primary undertaking of safely operating the vehicle and has the potential to result in catastrophic consequences. You can focus on excelling in your primary task, calling or responsibility, and be great at it, or you can try to be a "jack of all trades" and do a substandard job of them all. I encourage you to ask the Lord to keep you sensitive to His leading so that your purpose isn’t thwarted, delayed, or half-heartedly executed because you are distracted. If you are doing what God has called you to do, but you aren’t doing it to your fullest potential then pause, reassess and refocus your attention so that you can thrive in your purpose.
Distraction is a device of the devil to cause you to doubt God and His timing for you
If you have noticed yourself beginning to doubt whether something will happen for you, whether you were over-ambitious for desiring it in the first place, or whether your time has passed, you may have surrendered your hope, this time to the big ‘D’. Doubt steps in when the passage of time has distracted you from your dream or has deceived you into believing that it will never happen. This is the word for you: Kairos! It means “time” and not just any time, but an ‘appointed time’ or ‘destined time’. The King James version uses the phrase “and when the fulness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4). There is a time for everything under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and that includes a time for your dreams and desires to be manifested. As long as God’s will and your desires align, and the thing that you desire has not yet occurred, it simply means that it is not yet the kairos time. Kairos is controlled by God alone and no matter how much we want something or try to progress it in our strength, Kairos belongs to God. Abraham had his kairos moment for Isaac, David had his kairos moment to be appointed king and so will you and I, for what we desire. Do not let time distract you and do not doubt God because at the right time, it will come to pass!
Love Ya!
Krystal Baynes-Hoseinee
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‘My Favourite Scriptures: A Devotional For New Believers” contains reflections on fundamental principles about God’s love, His forgiveness, your character/nature in Christ, submission and obedience, His blessings, provision, purpose and protection. In this devotional I use deeply personal experiences to make the scriptures relevant to you. This book is a reflection of the grace that God showers on me, having used my lowest points and all my failures to increase my compassion so that I can spread the message of His love to the world.
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