Resisting Distractions

Last Thursday I wrote here about God’s gentle reminders that He is still here even when I feel like He has forgotten my prayers – my needs.

This post is the follow-up and occurred later that evening.

I have been reading Andy Stanley’s book, Visioneering, which as can be expected is excellent.  It is about the visions God gives us – visions for our families, our careers, our ministries, ourselves – and how we can work alongside God to see those visions to completion.  Andy uses the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament to teach the lessons God gives us through Nehemiah’s vision to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.

I opened up the book to find myself beginning the chapter entitled “Distractions”.  Andy outlines three distractions that sometimes curtail our visions – opportunities, criticism, and fear.

Opportunities.

When I read these pages describing how opportunities – good opportunities – can distract us from our vision – the vision God gave us – it was as if I believed all over again.

Andy begins where he left off in Nehemiah, Nehemiah 6.  In this chapter Nehemiah is almost finished rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, and he gets an opportunity.  Sanballet and Geshem, Nehemiah’s opposition, send a letter to Nehemiah asking him to come and meet with them.  They think that Nehemiah and the Jews are planning a revolt and that Nehemiah is working his way to becoming the king.  Neither which are true.  However, they are getting nervous, and they are very persistent in getting Nehemiah to come and talk to them.  They ask him five times!  But Nehemiah did not give in to this opportunity.  He responded to them,

 “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.” (Nehemiah 6:3)

God had spoken to me.  Not just in these pages, but throughout the day with the two “good opportunities” and the reminder that He is still here.  His voice was so clear and so real.

The two possible opportunities that I had been presented with earlier were good.  There was not anything wrong with them, and they would have been an answer to my prayer.  When I heard about them I got excited and relieved.

However, they will not lead to the completion of my vision.  They are distractions that could keep me in the cycle I am trying to break.  They could keep me from the great project God has given me.

That does not mean there is no purpose behind the presentation of these opportunities.  God has reasons for allowing these possibilities to come my way.  Maybe it is to remember that God is still present and working in my circumstances.  Maybe it is to open my eyes to distractions that can get me off course.

I am grateful for God’s voice last week.  I am thankful that he speaks to me and opens my eyes to distractions that take me from the great project that He does not want me to come down from.

How have you faced the distraction of opportunity that could keep you from the great project God has called you to do?