Distractions are something everyone deals with no matter who you are or where you live.  Some people are able to take them in stride, others not so well.  What are distractions?  They are something that takes your mind off of what you SHOULD be thinking of at the time.  Today, as every Friday, my focus is writing my weekly newsletter and getting it on my website as well as mailing it out to thousands of people who are waiting for it.  So what happened this morning?  My computer messed up so I couldn’t get on the internet, and I had to spend time solving the problem, so I get distractions too.  Like I said, everyone faces distractions.
   Maybe you’re a business executive concentrating on closing an important deal and you must stay focused, and your phone rings, there’s an emergency at home you must attend to, and I mean IMMEDIATELY.  So much for keeping your mind focused on your work.  Say for example you are a native living in the jungle somewhere and you’re hunting your lunch with a bow and arrow, you have the bow drawn, ready to fire at your target, and a wasp lands on your nose and stings you.  Most likely you will be distracted from what you were doing and lose focus on your target.  Happens to the best of us, right?
    Well, it doesn’t have to be an emergency at home or a wasp on your nose to get our mind off of where you need to have it.  Suppose it’s something as simple as receiving healing for your body.  Yes, that really IS something simple if you go at it with the right mindset.  But distractions are your worst enemy, especially when it comes to the Word of God.
   I remember a story of a man who wanted to be a disciple of Jesus who had a distraction.  Let’s read about him in Luke 9:57-62:
Luk 9:57  And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
Luk 9:58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luk 9:59  And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Luk 9:61  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
    This man wanted to follow Jesus, but he knew he needed to take care of things at home.  If I had a dime for every Christian I’ve talked to who knew they were called to preach, but they wouldn’t go preach because needed to take care of things at home, I’d be a rich man.  We can see here that Jesus had a simple answer for him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.  Did Jesus not care that he had obligations?  Sure, but if you take care of the IMPORTANT STUFF FIRST, the rest will fall in order.  That man simply had the wrong focus, so he put the Kingdom of God in some other place than FIRST place.
   I have a wife, and owned a business and worked hard to have money to feed my household, and support ministries, plus I preached the Gospel as I had time.  One day the LORD asked me, Do you want to be a business man, or a minister?  I said, Lord, I want to be a minister.  Exactly a year later the LORD asked me the very same question, and I made the very same reply.  Again, a year later, the LORD asked me for the third time, Jerry, do you want to be a business man, or a minister?  I said, Lord, I want to be a minister, but I have a wife to feed, and bills to pay, and a job.  He said, What did I say to my disciples when I called them?  I replied, You said, Follow Me.  He said, To which of them did I say, Follow Me after you get off work?  OUCH!  He had me!  That was His way of telling me I had a distraction, and a  MAJOR distraction at that.  That day I closed my business, determined to give my full attention to the ministry.  Of course the devil didn’t help matters any by telling me we would soon starve and lose everything and my wife would abandon me.  Don’t worry, as always the devil is a liar, and God is always good for His Word.  We didn’t starve or lose everything, and my wife is still with me, and she ministers too.  But my distractions almost cost me what God had called me to do in the ministry.
   Family responsibilities are no stranger to God, for He takes good care of His family.  But we tend to forget the fact that when He calls us into His family, that He is well aware of our needs and will tend to them.  There are many preachers out there who trust more in their own ability to take care of their family than they do in God’s, and they wonder why God isn’t working more in their lives.  The answer is simple, they are so distracted by matters of the flesh, that they don’t have their full focus on God.  Therefore, it isn’t that God doesn’t want to use them, the truth is, God CAN’T use them to the fullest because they won’t let Him.  That’s a word for someone out there, so pay attention.  You know who you are.
   As I said earlier, healing is easy if you have the right mindset.  Get focused on what God’s Word says concerning healing.  Look up the healing scriptures and read them aloud daily.  As it is written in Romans 10:17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Listen to the scriptures so you can renew your mind and make your faith work for you.  Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by symptoms and what the doctors tell you and what your friends and family say about what happened to so-and-so.  When you need to get well, get in the Word and you’ll soon see that God wants you well, not sick.  Distractions are your worst enemy when you’re trying to receive your healing.  Yet, for some reason, most people pay more attention to the distractions than they do the cure.  Sadly, some even die for it, but that isn’t God’s will.  His will is for you to give His Word FIRST PLACE in your life so He has full reign to work out all the details.
   Distractions don’t come from God; they come from the devil to get your attention off of the Word of God.  If the devil can keep you tied up with distractions, your time will always be spent “putting out the fires” so to speak, instead of focusing on the Kingdom of God.  In those times, you actually need to just stop what you’re doing and ignore all the distractions and get on your knees before God.  Worship Him, for He is good, and ask Him what He wants you to do.  He will surely instruct you.  Then just DO it.  Don’t give Him excuses why you can’t.  He hates excuses.  He won’t tell you to do something you can’t do.  If God’s Word tells you to do something, He will make a way for you to be able do it.  Been there, done that.
   I’ve seen major distractions and problems simply solved by making use of God’s instructions.  Then I was freed up to do what He called me to do in the first place.  God ALWAYS has the answer, and He will make it available to you, that is, if you aren’t too distracted to ask Him for it.  Don’t let the devil jerk you around.  Go to the LORD, the source of all wisdom and sit still long enough for Him to impart to you what you need to know.  For some of you, sitting still and listening to God is a major problem.  Why don’t you just forget about all the problems you’re dealing with and just sit there and let God minister to you? God created the whole universe in just six days, all by Himself, He can figure it all out for you.
   I can imagine there could have been some problems figuring out all that creation stuff, yet He managed to get it done.  So, how big could YOUR problem be for Him?  Your problems may be real big for you, but they are real tiny for Him.  There used to be a slogan the Greyhound Bus Company used to use; “Get on the bus, and leave the driving to us”.  God would like you to let HIM be in charge so He can make your life right.  I’ve seen bumper stickers that say, “God is my co-pilot”.  Well, if that’s you my friend, then you’re in the wrong seat.  Move over and let God drive.  You really CAN have victory over distractions.  Don’t lose your focus, put God in FIRST PLACE.  Tune distractions out and tune the Word of God in.  You’ll find your peace will return to you quickly and you’ll have a whole new outlook on things.  The rest is just details, and God is REAL GOOD with details.