Diversions And Distractions: Tools Used Against Us

Diversions and Distractions: Tools Used Against Us

Scripture: Second Corinthians 2:10-11; Joshua 9:3-14; Deuteronomy 20:10-11

The title of my message this morning is “Diversions and Distractions: Tools Used Against Us.” Paul wrote the following to the Christians in Corinth, “(10) Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, (11) lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (Second Corinthians 2:10-11) In verse ten Paul talks about hearts that forgive without compulsion before transitioning to verse eleven where he tells us how Satan takes advantage of us when we choose not to forgive. But I want you to focus on what Paul wrote in the last part of verse eleven. He said, “…for we are not ignorant of his devices.” Through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit residing within us, we can know how our enemy operates for his plans, thoughts, cunning, and skills have not changed since he first appeared in the Garden of Eden. We should not be ignorant or surprised by the great number of devices he consistently uses against us as he tries to destroy or minimize the effectiveness of our walk with Christ. This morning I want to make you aware of two of those devices that our enemy uses very effectively against the Church - diversions and distractions.

Several years ago I was returning home from a trip to the east coast. My flight took off from New Jersey and was scheduled to arrive in Kansas City around 7:30 p.m. There was bad weather scheduled for Kansas City so I changed my scheduled flight for an earlier one hoping to beat the weather. Once we took off, the weather worsened in Kansas City and we were not allowed to land. Our plane was diverted Tulsa, OK as we were getting low on fuel circling the airport. We were told that once we got to Tulsa they would refuel the plane and then we would return to Kansas City. That did not happen. Once we arrived in Tulsa we were informed that the pilots could not fly to Kansas City and we would need to find hotels for the night. I had been away from home for three weeks and I was determined that I was going to get home that night. So after retrieving my bags I went to the rental car station to rent a car. There were several others doing the same and three of us decided to share a ride. I got into the car with 2 strangers in Tulsa, OK for a 3 hour road trip to Kansas City.

Now as it turned out the guys I traveled with were Christians and each of us prayed that we would arrive home safely, which we did. But here is something that I found out the next day: had I stayed on my original flight I would have gotten home at the scheduled time as the weather had cleared up enough for that flight to land. However, had I waited overnight in Tulsa for the flight the next morning I would have been stuck there because the weather deteriorated overnight causing the airport to shut down. When I boarded my flight in New Jersey I boarded that plane with the expectation that when I stepped off the plane I would be in Kansas City. That did not happen. Why – because bad weather caused that plane to be diverted to another airport 3 hours away. However, before that happened, I saw the forecast and came to the conclusion that I needed to change my flight. I allowed myself to get distracted by the potential weather changes and figured I should be proactive and get ahead of it. My only goal was to get home that night. My distraction by the weather led me to make a decision that caused me to get home 4 hours later than I would have had I not changed my flight. Because I was so distracted by the weather forecast, fear set in that I wouldn’t be able to get home so I made the decision to change my flight which ended up being diverted to another state altogether. Now here is something I want you to remember. When I prayed about the situation I did not pray and ask God “should I change my flight” because of the weather. No, I prayed and asked God to allow me to get on the earlier flight. Do you see the mistake I made? I did not ask God what I should do and I ended up making a mistake. Our enemy will use diversions and distractions to get us off course just like my trip home. But let me show you this in Scripture.