The distraction is not overcome in a few strokes, but in many, small and habitual. Therefore, I do not promise to offer, in a thousand words, a magic sword that can kill the “Dread Dragon of Distraction”. Three or four simple attacks. . I have not discovered such a sword and I do not believe it exists.
First, what gives me authority on the issue of distractions?It’s not my knowledge to stay focused, but my knowledge to distract me. If my observations and self-assessments are correct, am I on the “average”?From the distracted spectrum. I know this inner struggle and I fight it every day.
- Waiting to fight every day is a necessary mentality to win the fight.
- Distraction is not just an enemy; you have to fight on many fronts.
- Victory is not achieved with a glorious coup de determined.
- But with the slow insurrection in the development of habits that reduce distraction.
However, this will probably require ‘recalibration’ on our part. We, the children of the era of high technology and information, the grandchildren of the industrial and manufacturing age, find it increasingly difficult for us to appreciate God’s speed. We learned to assess efficiency in terms of speed, quantity and cost. Produce something desirable quickly, on a large scale and at lower cost, and the result will be successful. We have also learned to value availability and devalue sustainability.
But when God builds things, it usually takes a long time (at least from our point of view) to do so, and what He builds, builds it to last. Consider how you conceived us. We need about nine months between conception and the point at which we can survive outside the womb. It takes us about two more decades to develop the maturity, knowledge and skills to live independently of our parents.
And how do we acquire our maturity, knowledge and skills over these two decades, through rigorous repetition. Muscle and informational memory is developed and maintained through the arduous process of daily and usual practice.
We now know that God sometimes uses miraculous power to bring about instant changes in people’s lives. The gifts of liberation and healing are very real aspects of the kingdom of God at that time. The Bible still commands us to desire them and seek them sincerely (1 Corinthians 12). : 31). I think if we wanted them and looked for them more, they would happen more often.
However, all the testimonies of Scripture and redemptive history tell us that even when they are more frequent, miraculous and instant transformations are always exceptional (rare) at that time, not prescriptive Most of our healings will be experienced through relatively slow processes with which God beautifully and wisely equips our bodies. And will most of our births be experienced through relatively slow (sometimes frustrating) processes with which God beautifully and wisely equips our minds and souls?common reactions of faith in true promises and god’s kind acceptance.
We talk a lot about habits of grace in Wishing God, because routines build and shape human character, competence, affection and creativity. The scriptures teach and history reinforces the fact that the usual routines of biblical meditation, prayer, and communion in the church are God’s top priorities. means of grace for our transformation. Rome was not built in a day. We’re not building slowly, gradually, carefully, brick-to-brick, day after day, in time?At God’s speed.
God wants us to free ourselves from the fragmentation effect of a failed distraction (Luke 10. 40). He wants us to focus on the most important thing (Luke 10:41, 42). But it is very unlikely that we will get a quick fix. , because there are more distractions than we usually think. In fact, we have a lot to learn from everything that happens within us when we are tempted to be distracted.
First, distractions often tell us what we love, trust, and fear. We gravitate to the desires we aspire to and turn away from the fears we wish to avoid. Listen to what your (usual) family distractions say. What are you trying to escape from?
Distractions also tell us where we form bad habits earlier in life that we have not yet properly addressed. Some bad habits are due to the growth of broken family systems, and others are indulgent habits that we form in youth or adolescence, so we must now be mature enough to take responsibility.
Distractions can also indicate the biological realities to manage: ADHD, OCD, chronic depression, bipolar disorder and other illnesses. Pharmacological treatments supervised by a specialist doctor can be of great help, but we must also actively cultivate new habits to mitigate the problems. effects. of messy biology.
What do your distractions tell you? Record them while you watch them for two to three weeks. You won’t fight them until you know what is feeding them. Distractions fueled by different messy loves or fears, biology, or common old habits call for different common combat strategies.
Healthy habits are strategies. If resolutions are our goals (desired results), habits are our strategies or, to use another metaphor, the mechanism of our determination must work on the traces of our habits. Established.
Hebrews 5:14 says exactly this: “But solid food is for adults, for those who, through practice, have exercised their powers to discern not only good, but also evil. “
This verse helps define our expectations. Spiritual maturity is the goal; constant practice is the way.
When we played football in high school, all the players had fun. Few of us appreciate monotonous skill development exercises. No one I knew liked grueling conditioning exercises. But our ability to win matches was largely determined by the strength with which we train.
Constant practice is the only way to develop and maintain a skill in anything, including the ability to distinguish between productive concentration and failed distraction.
Yes, but what do we do to constantly practice distraction resistance?I told them I don’t have solutions ready to offer. And neither does the Bible. Have you noticed that you rarely give us clear and practical instructions?I wonder why?
One of the reasons, I think, is that our behaviors are motivated by divergent and complex factors, and therefore the formulas are generally of marginal aid. What helps me may not be much help.
But another reason is that the difficult process of combating ambiguities, internal resistances and confusion is part of the formation itself, we learn necessary things about our affections, weaknesses and bodies, the difficult process ends up generating benefits of greater faith, wisdom and perseverance that goes far beyond the subject of distraction.
If we ask God, He will give us what we need in this struggle (1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:19). But we must keep in mind: all aspects of the struggle for faith are a struggle (1 Timothy 6. 12). We must develop perseverance (Hebrews 10. 36) We must learn to discipline and control our bodies (1 Corinthians 9. 27).
Not only does God care about the most effective way to free us from distraction, but He also cares about what will produce the greatest and most lasting spiritual fruit in our lives. habits, one at a time.