Distractions

     I just want to give a little insight to what most people get frustrated with throughout their week.  Frustrations are birthed from our inability to focus.  This is especially true in the lives of people who are striving to live lives that serve God.  What is it that keeps us from moving (walking) toward the places that God is calling us to?  Distractions.  I know that it's not the only issue that keeps us held at bay, but let's face it, we live in an incredibly distracting world.  I find myself spending more time thinking about what I may be missing than thinking about what I'm doing.  Distractions will distort what God's real goals for your life look like.
     Take Jesus in Matthew 16. He was beginning to reveal to the disciples that he was the Christ and that he must suffer many things.  This was Jesus purpose.  What may seem like a very strange conversation really becomes a huge lesson for us in the way of identifying and dealing with distractions in our life.


Mat 16:22  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." 
Mat 16:23  But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

Jesus was attacking the distraction would keep him from the goal.  Jesus loved Peter, but did not play around with anything that would keep him from following through with the work that God purposed him to do.  So how did Jesus handle the distraction?  He identified the distraction and called it out. "Get behind me, Satan!"  Why did he say Satan?  Because the temptation of diversion from God's purposes are from the pits of hell.  This is why you, as a child of God, get so frustrated with yourself, and others around you.  You're probably taking the bait and allowing the distractions divert you from moving toward God's goal for your life.
Here's the bottom line for our lesson today.  Identify the distractions that distort God's goal for your life.  Call   out the distractions that are leading you away from the actions that God is calling to toward.  You'll find your frustrations melt and your faith grow as you focus on God's goal for your life.