Freedom from distractions…

Yesterday and today are best described by the word distractions. A distraction is anything that diverts my attention. Sometimes it is offering recreation or entertainment, like one evening this week I watched old comedy clips from Carol Burnett because laughter felt very good. 

But diversion is not always fun. It can be an agitated mental state from bad news. Before I got up yesterday my hubby told me an email arrived from our granddaughter who has been teaching in another country. She fell and broke her ankle and kneecap, has had surgery on the ankle with pins, and is searching for tickets to come home.

I cannot think of much else. Praying, yes, but distracted by more email and more information and knowing she will arrive in a couple days and need more medical attention and lots of time to heal.

This word is used only once in the NT but distraction is an extension of other words that mean a state of concern, anxiety, burden, daily pressure, troubled. . . .  

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42)

In my situation, the distraction could be like the straw that broke the camel’s back — just another stress in an already too busy life. But not so. I’m feeling her pain, wanting to encourage her and help, etc. The distraction is not concern for me but for her. She lived with us, promised one day to push my wheelchair to repay me, and now we will likely be pushing hers, or at least involved in getting her to where she needs to go. 

As for the stress, Jesus offered Martha the solution to her distraction. “Sit with me. Listen to me. Don’t be troubled by all that needs to happen…” He is right and I need to do what He says.

This next passage is about anxiety with principles when I’m anxious for others:

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. . . . For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?. . . .  Do not be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. (Luke 12:22–31)

As well as taking care of physical needs, God cares about spiritual well-being, and I know that He can use this for good in her life. He knows what she needs in her heart and attitude, more than pins and plaster and 24/7 care for a short while, but a long-term trust in Him for all things. He is able to meet physical needs and encourage her to keep her thoughts on His promises as she mends. 

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5–7)

This is for me and for her. God is with us. We can ask for what is needed, but also be thankful and experience peace — and for both of us, a focused mind.

PRAY: Jesus, this burden is Your burden too. You ask us to cast all our cares onto You — which shows Your willingness to carry them for us. Yet to do that, we need to let You distract both of us from all anxieties, my concerns and our dear granddaughter from her pain and worries. Enable us to just sit at Your feet and hear You speak.

God never worries . . . ?

 

 

At times I go to bed with both physical and emotional fatigue. The day was long, and the news of the day overwhelms me. I should pray yet know I will not stay awake. While I’ve not said this aloud, I’m thinking, “I’ll let God worry about all that stuff.” As if God worries. This year’s devotions focus on what God is, but today the focus is what God is not; He isn’t a worrywart!

How do I know that? The biggest reason is that He tells me not to worry and since His goal is that I become more like Jesus, I must assume that being like Him means not being worried.

Another reason is the definition. To be worried  means becoming concerned, or fearful about something. It most frequently refers to an unhealthy and unproductive concern or worry about events and circumstances. This is especially true of a focus on physical and temporary matters rather than spiritual matters. Since God can do whatever He determines to do in both the physical and spiritual realm, and since He is not the author of fear, worry is not one of His attributes. And He tells His people to not go there:

Psalm 127:2. “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

Isaiah 35:4. “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ ”

Jeremiah 17:7–8. “Blessed is the man whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Yet there are at least two OT cases for worry. It is legitimate if God reveals something that I need to give attention to, something that requires prayer and/or action on my part. Daniel  was given visions and he said, “My spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.” This motivated him to seek truth from the Lord.

Another positive case for worry is Psalm 38:18: “I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin” and the word for ‘sorry’ is ‘worry’ — indicating that it is right to be concerned and fearful about our sin, for that kind of response to it leads to repentance:

2 Corinthians 7:9–10. “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Neither example show that God worries, only that when we worry, it ought to be a godly concern for a deeper spiritual life and a closer relationship with our Lord.

The NT pattern is the same. God tells me not to worry about my life and the temporal needs of life. Such anxiety is lack of faith in His care. It can also lead to being critical of others who don’t share my beliefs.

Luke 12:22–31. “ . . . Do not be anxious about your life . . . food . . . body . . . clothes . . . Consider the ravens . . . God feeds them . . . and clothes the lilies . . .  how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

Luke 10:40–42. “Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things . . . .’ ”

The Bible tells me not to worry about what I will say to those who oppose my faith, or anything else.

Philippians 4:6–7. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Yet there is a legitimate worry: concern for others. This concern is not about lack of sleep or ulcers, but a motivation for prayer and action that shares or lifts burdens.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. I can let worry take my focus off the power of God, or distract me from whatever I should be doing, or be critical of those I think should be doing something. Instead, God wants me to use anxiety as motivation for prayer and service, trusting Him rather than getting knotted up and trying to check things off His to-do list.