By: Randy Carlson
Distractions are not always bad. Sometimes they are God-appointed and can change the course of your life. There are times when God wants to speak to us, and we need to be aware of being too focused to miss it. When you’re faced with a distraction, it could be that God wants to do something else in your life or wake you up to something that you’re not aware of.
These three characters in Scripture were distracted by God. They were living their lives and doing their own things, when God distracted them, and that ultimately changed the course of their lives.
1. Moses
Moses was out in the desert tending his father-in-law’s sheep. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing, taking care of the sheep, when God got ahold of him.
“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush does not burn.’
“So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’” (Exodus 3:2-4, NKJV). What would have happened if Moses had not turned toward that burning bush?
What if he had stayed so focused on caring for his sheep that he’d ignored something extraordinary? It was only after he turned that God spoke to him.
2. Nehemiah
Nehemiah was in the palace of the Persian king, serving as a cupbearer, when his friends came to visit. He asked them what was going on back home. They told him that the gates had been burned, the walls were collapsed, the people were in disarray, and there was a great lack of morale in the people.
“When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4 HCSB).
Then God transformed his whole life. And the fifty-two days of rebuilding that came after his prayer, would not only radically change the people of God but would also change the heart of Nehemiah.
3. Matthew
Matthew was sitting at his tax collector’s table doing what he is supposed to do when he encountered Christ.
“As Jesus passed on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ So he arose and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9)
Matthew could have said, “No, I’ve got a job to do here. I’ve got to keep collecting these taxes.” But he didn’t.
In each of these three examples, the distraction came in a different way. Moses turned to a burning bush, Nehemiah asked a question that changed his life and Matthew was asked to follow.
Distractions in our lives can come from things we see, things we experienced or questions we ask.
In each of these cases, the distraction changed the course of these people’s lives so radically that they became very intentional about one thing. It became their one thing for the rest of their life. In my next post, I’ll share how important the power of ONE THING is in your life.
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