Life is so busy these days. I don’t mean just my life, but rather life in general. We have so many things happening in this world these days. Life is so “full” and I am not speaking about the fulfilling kind of full. This modern world we live in is full of so many distractions it is amazing to think about. Distractions that fill our time from the moment we open our eyes until the moment we go to sleep. Even my dreams seem to be full of distractions these days. How amazingly distracting this life can be for us all. Television, DVD’s, video games, public events, social unrest, political races, school, children, friends, family, personal vehicles, traffic, gas prices, grocery prices, weather forecasts, gardening, yard cutting, finances, and on and on they go.
Discouragement most times follows these distractions. More frequently than not. It’s discouraging to work all week and not have enough money left to do anything on the weekend. It’s discouraging to know that none of the candidates running for the highest office in our land are worth having. It is discouraging to look at your life and wonder where the last forty-five years have gone. How did they vaporize so quickly leaving nothing of “true” substance behind. Discouragement comes in many shapes and sizes. Slowly chipping away at our sanity and sense of self worth. Our lives are judged by our successes most often and these days it is more and more difficult for the average American to be “successful”, at least in the eyes of this fast paced world we live in. When the discouragement reaches a fever pitch like it frequently does, we can no longer focus on the one thing that truly matters in life, knowing Jesus Christ, studying His word, seeking His truth and spreading it through out this lost and dying world.
We become detoured from the path that God has laid out before us. The plans He has for our lives become lost in the jumble of distractions and discouragement lingering at every turn. This is not how life is supposed to be, distracting and discouraging. This is not what God has planned for us on a daily basis. He has much greater plans for our lives than these things that we grapple with daily. The enemy detours us as often as possible by throwing distractions in our path. He discourages us with great skill at every minor difficulty and failure in meeting the expectations of this materialistic world we live in today. So, what do we do about this distracting, discouraging world we live in now a days?
Focus. Pinpoint the things that help us focus on Him, Jesus Christ, the one and only “human” who ever truly loved us with all of His being. He laid down His life so that we would have a chance to “live” life. And how do we live this life to its fullest? Seek after Him, focus on His example chronicled in the Holy Bible for our benefit and strive to be more like Him. Will it be easy? Not at all. As a matter of fact it will probably be the most difficult thing we do in our lives. What isn’t difficult these days? So if we must struggle through this life, why not struggle to gain something of true worth? Why not seek the only true treasure in life, knowing Him more?
I am going to increase my efforts in this struggle to live a fullfilling life. I am going to increase my efforts to help others find that fulfillment that is so difficult to achieve. I will not waste another moment chasing the distractions of this world. I will not waste another moment being discouraged by the meaningless things of this world. I will seek His truth with all my heart and I will endeavor to help others find it as well. Praise God for His encouragement given to me through His Word. Praise God for His Son who died for me so that when I refocus from my distractions I have hope in this hopeless world. Praise His name for the road signs that will return me to the path I have been detoured from while simply trying to live. Thank God I have a Risen Savior to lead me through this difficult life. Thank God I have His Spirit to comfort me when life weighs me down. Thank God I have a Father who loves me enough to send His Son to die for my sins so that I can still have hope when all hope seems lost! Praise God!
