DOMINION OVER DISTRACTIONS (3)

“But Martha was DISTRACTED with much serving…” – Luke 10:40a

It takes spiritual sensitivity to detect and exercise DOMINION over DARTS of DISTRACTION: “But Martha was DISTRACTED with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me” (Lk.10:40). Jesus visited His friends. Martha was busy in the kitchen while Jesus taught in her home. When she complained that her sister, Mary, wasn’t helping because she was sitting at the Lord’s feet, Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but ONE THING is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (vv.41-42).

In trying to serve her guests, Martha was distracted from Jesus! Perhaps she was anxious about not satisfying the Master. Strangely, Martha didn’t recognize her distraction until Jesus unveiled her heart to her. She thought she was doing the right thing by being so busy. But Jesus pointed out that her values were disordered. She had shifted her attention from the greater importance to the lesser. In our busy-ness, we should ask, what is the real distraction? What does my heart desire? Am I choosing “the good portion,” seeking the “one thing”, or something less? David declared: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psa.27:4).

In essence, distraction involves one’s attention being shifted from something of greater significance to something of lesser value. Since the fall of man, humanity has had trouble staying focused. Today, we live in an age of unprecedented distraction, an era of information overload through constant stream of media – social media, the Internet, and diverse informational innovations. Secular experts are warning on the negative effects this age of laptops, palmtops, android phones, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, and the like, is having on humanity: the buzzing brain, the attention atrophy, the diminishing tolerance for reading, especially reading books.  

Humanity is almost becoming conditioned to distraction, and it’s harming the ability to listen and think carefully, to be still, to pray, and to meditate. Meanwhile, God commands: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa.46:10a). This trend of increasing distraction spells a real spiritual danger from which deliverance is demanded (Mt.6:13a). The fundamental and most dangerous dimension of distraction is to be distracted from God – the tendency to shift attention or orientation from the greatest Person in existence to countless lesser persons and things – what the Bible calls IDOLATRY. Because our attention often runs to what’s important to us, distraction can reflect or reveal what we really love. At the deepest level, distraction reflects the fallen, selfish human nature.

When we are regularly distracted by something, we need to take note. This tendency to be distracted from the more important to the less important often cascades down, detrimentally affecting social relationships and family responsibilities. Irrespective of the cause or mixture of causes of distraction, when God comes into the picture, He will deliver whoever calls upon Him. He could even use distraction to our advantage, helping us see what our hearts love, and pressing us by His grace into greater levels of faith and self-control. Distraction, though a potential Dart, can become a means of revealing what we cherish – what’s important to us!

Distraction is a frequent reminder of our frailty; that we are not God. Distraction humbles and compels us to ask God for the help we so desperately need in order to be built up in humility and faith. God is not nearly as interested in our efficiency as He is in our faith. In a sense, He could use distraction to build our muscle of self-control, part of the fruit of the spirit (Gal.5:22-23). Every distracted minute is an unrecoverable minute, now frozen in the permanent past. But by God’s Grace we can seek to maximise the use of our time in these evil days (Eph.5:16). All things – including distraction – can work together for our good (Rom.8:28).