<\/p>\n
\u201cGod first..God first\u201d. Sometimes, it really feels like I am in a conflict zone, dealing with an enemy \u2013 myself. You might have been in my shoes, tempted to skip doing what God wants you to work on, because your urge to dive into activities like gardening or playing badminton that pique your interest is just too enticing to pass up. As someone with so many interests, staying focused or committed to what God has called me to do hasn\u2019t always been a straight shot, you could say, not without any friction.<\/p>\n
Our current world is not conducive to following God\u2019s heart, is it? Our days are often filled with work schedules, personal responsibilities, and hobbies we want to pursue. It\u2019s one of the reasons we, at times, feel flat-out depleted to even spend quality time with Him or do God-centered work. Compared to previous generations, we have way more distractions that divert our attention from God and the work we need to accomplish for Him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With our new technology, social media, and what have you, it’s way too easy to get tugged every which way. Have you ever been glued to your cellphone for an hour or more at some point? The struggle to overcome distractions is way too real for most people.<\/p>\n
We should know by now that neglecting God and failing to make time for Him are mistakes. We\u2019re living in the last days, and as such, time is precious. And it seems the enemy is finding ways to keep us tied up on things that aren’t worth our time.<\/p>\n
But we can fight back.<\/p>\n
Aren’t we told to redeem the time?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRedeeming the time, because the days are evil.\u201d \u00a0Eph 5:16 NKJV<\/p>\n
This directive from the Scripture has never been more timely, considering how our current world setup is geared towards keeping us entertained and distracted, filling every spare moment with something to work on. God knows the future. He must have anticipated how distracted people in the last days would be, so He commands us, \u201cto redeem the time,\u201d to ensure we spend our time wisely and use it for good work.<\/p>\n
Let me share with you some of the things fellow Christians have shared with me to minimize distractions and focus on what truly matters. I have to admit that I still slip up from time to time, but one thing we must not do is give up. We must strive to start again after every stumble.<\/p>\n
Ways to Minimize Distractions to Have More Time With God<\/p>\n
Aren\u2019t we all guilty of this at one point? Going about our day without a structured schedule for the things we need to do. After realizing how I have been neglecting my work for the Lord, I decided to create a workable time frame for every activity that needs to be completed each day.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.\u201d Prov 16:3 NKJV<\/p>\n
For busy moms or caregivers, these may not be applicable. Some things have to get done, whether you feel like it or not. But for the parts you can control, soften the edges. Make it easier on yourself by trying to turn the task into something that wouldn\u2019t leave you struggling for air.<\/p>\n
To make things easier for me, I usually tackle more complex tasks when my energy is high and save lighter work for when my brain isn\u2019t moving at full power or starting to wander off. For example, as a writer, I prefer writing at dawn because my brain feels sharp and it isn\u2019t a mess in the early morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doing work we genuinely enjoy not only makes us more efficient with our time but also benefits our well-being. You may have noticed that when we work on something pleasurable, we naturally get into the right mindset for work, helping us wrap things up faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelight yourself also in the Lord,<\/p>\n
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.\u201d Psalm 37:4 NKJV<\/p>\n
We can draw on our proven skills to do good work for others, reflecting our Christian faith. And if you\u2019re constantly faced with splitting your time and energy between your career and God, why not build a career around serving the Lord? For example, if you\u2019re a writer, write Christian-aligned themes. If your job is in editing videos, work as a video editor for a church community or organization. If you\u2019re a food caterer or gift basket curator, why not serve Christian believers or even non-believers and add or distribute complimentary cards with uplifting Scripture verses?<\/p>\n
By doing so, we don\u2019t have to split our time between work and God. We can focus all our time and energy serving Him. That being said, you don\u2019t always need a Christian-related job to honor the Lord. For as long as you treat others well, you can help your coworkers see God\u2019s love through how you act and behave.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.\u201d Col 3:17-25 NKJV<\/p>\n
Being human makes us susceptible to being distracted. The problem is, the pull of today\u2019s distractions can be both strong and persistent. We may need to include our struggle with distractions in our prayers \u2013because consistent prayer works. These last days, distraction is the enemy\u2019s greatest ploy\u2014 it is the culprit behind why obeying God feels more complex than ever. The enemy knows too well that when we take the time to sit with God, being in His presence, obedience stops feeling like a struggle.<\/p>\n
Saturday is my day of rest. It\u2019s my time with God. You can pick whichever day feels right for you. I just chose Saturday because I felt inspired to observe the Sabbath during my stay in Israel years ago. The locals would stop doing what they typically do on busy weekdays. Not everyone, though. But there are definitely fewer activities. It\u2019s quieter, more relaxed. I didn’t observe the Sabbath the way Orthodox Jews do during my stay in the country. I would still go out and buy food from Russian-run shops in Ashdod. We need to make sure, as much as possible, to keep our activities light and focus on resting and spending time with God.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t have to be the whole day if you don\u2019t have the option. Just spending some time, sinking fully into His offer of rest, really changes things up. Besides, haven\u2019t you noticed that obeying God seems to come more naturally to us when we make space for Him even in the small, quiet bits of our day?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God\u2019s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.\u201d Heb 4:9-11 NIV<\/p>\n
We have somehow forgotten that our time with God is just as important. Be reminded that the more time we spend with Him, the more productive we become in carrying out the task we are called to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t Jesus often go to a secluded place to spend time with the Father? And didn\u2019t He remind Martha of what truly matters when she was too busy with the household chores?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given that, I couldn\u2019t help but recall one of Billy Graham\u2019s biggest regrets during one of his last interviews before his death: “If I had to do it over again, I’d spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord how much I love Him.” \u2013Billy Graham.<\/p>\n
As Christians, especially for anointed preachers like Billy Graham, bringing more souls to God becomes the utmost priority. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, as doing so is tantamount to fulfilling the great commission. But at times, in our desire to do more for the Lord and take on more than we can handle, we end up sacrificing or trading away precious time meant to be spent in His presence.<\/p>\n
So, yearn so deeply for God that even silence speaks His name to you. Indeed, the best gift we can ever give to those we love is our time, our attention. Thus, if we genuinely love the Lord, shouldn\u2019t we make time for Him?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the deer pants for streams of water,<\/p>\n
\u00a0so my soul pants for you, my God.\u201d Psalm 42 NIV<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Unsplash\/Bethany Laird<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Liz Pineda <\/strong>holds a degree in English Education from the University of the Assumption, Philippines. She’s an English teacher by trade, but currently works as a freelance writer for online publications and e-commerce websites. And though she enjoys writing for various niches, she still considers crafting content for the Christian community the most fulfilling. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cGod first..God first\u201d. Sometimes, it really feels like I am in a conflict zone, dealing with an enemy \u2013 myself. You might have been in my shoes, tempted to skip doing what God wants you to work on, because your urge to dive into activities like gardening or playing badminton that pique your interest is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1325,182,1414,1422,181],"class_list":["post-20180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-feels","tag-god","tag-hard","tag-obey","tag-today"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}