Resisting Distractions

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." - James 3:17 (NIV)

Yesterday, God lead me to Proverbs 3:7 which instructed me not to consider myself wise in my own eyes when it comes to choices I have to make. The verse He lead me to today shows me why I should use God's wisdom instead of my own.

Just because I'm saved and am seeking to have a closer relationship with God does not exempt me from having problems in my life. Quite the contrary. I find that as I spend more time in contact with God, whether through prayer, Bible study or in service to Him, Satan and the world work even harder to fill my life with distractions. It's up to me to decide whether to allow my attention to focus on them or to resist them. Do I use my wisdom or God's wisdom to handle these situations? If I relied on my own wisdom - well, the distractions would take up all of my time. I would constantly be worrying, trying to figure out how to "fix" things, wondering why my life was such a mess, feeling sorry for myself, angry at everyone and everything because I can't come up with a solution. How do I know this? Because that's exactly what happens when I say "yes" to my own wisdom and "no" to God's! Satan is happy when I'm unhappy and relying on myself. I picture him dancing a devilish little jig whenever I choose to handle things on my own; an evil smile on his face, legs pumping up and down, arms in the air, horns bobbing up and down - just having a good ole time!! Is that what I want? NO WAY! I would love to have a picture of Satan doing his jig to hang on my desk so that every time I feel the need to make a choice without consulting God first, it would remind me that I don't want to give Satan a reason to do his ugly dance!!

When I look at this verse from James, I think to myself, "Why wouldn't I want the "wisdom that comes from heaven" over my own?" It's so much better. It leads to peace, it's gentle and impartial, it's full of mercy, it's without hypocrisy, it produces good fruit and best of all, it's pure. Yet, when presented with the choice of relying on myself or relying on God, there are still many times I make the wrong choice. But God, in His infinite wisdom, doesn't reject me or turn His back on me. When I've finally had enough of my own wisdom and make the choice to lean on His wisdom, He receives me with open arms and takes over. I'm able to resist the distractions that are placed in my way daily and focus my eyes back to where they need to be...on God and His plan for my life.

"Peace comes in situations completely surrendered to the sovereign authority of Christ." - Beth Moore

Dear Lord, fill me with Your wisdom today and lead me away from my own. Teach me to say "no" to the distractions that Satan puts in my path. I surrender my life over to Your control and ask for Your peace to live within me. Make Your choices my choices today. In Jesus' name, Amen.