The Power Of Diversions & Distractions

The Power of Diversions and Distractions

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

Good morning Strangers Rest. This morning I am going to ask you to give me your undivided attention. Yeah, I know I should not have to ask, but as you listen to this message, it will become clear as to why I am choosing to do so. This is the final message of the four that God gave me to initially deliver as we start this journey together. The title of this message is “The Power of Diversions and Distractions.” If you have ever attempted to do something but was unable to complete it because you got distracted or your time was diverted to another issue then you will understand the importance of this message.

Before I go further, I want to again remind you that you have heard some elements of this message previously when the deacons spoke last summer. First, in Dea. Jones’ message, “Running for Jesus” he said that we need to lay aside anything that slows us down. He said “don’t be distracted.” You remember that? He said the Bible, and I love this, was “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Now some may struggle with the idea that the Bible is anything but basic, but if you’ve ever been in the military you know that once you enlist, the very first thing you do is leave your home and go off to “basic” training. It is there that you receive your foundation for military life. Once we are saved, the Bible is where we begin our basic training in faith. Many people attempt to skip this training and their faith never grows, but that’s a subject for another day. The final message came from Dea. Howard when he spoke on “God’s Plan for You.” In his message he said we had to know our journey and that there will be a price to pay if we are going to truly follow Jesus. If you do not know your journey or are willing to pay the price you will easily become distracted and lose your way. Do you remember that message? I want to pause this morning and thank our deacons for allowing God to use them during a time of need in this Church. The messages that they delivered last summer to this Church body was Spirit-led and laid the foundation for what God is telling us right now. So thank you, deacons!!!

This morning, as I said, we will be looking at the power of distractions and diversions. By definition, a diversion is “the act of an instance of diverting or straying from a course, activity, or use. It also means a deviation – trying to do one thing but ending up going off course. Satan wants to divert us from the place God wants us to go. Let me give you a military analogy. A well-known military war tactic is to feint attack on one area to draw the enemy’s attention away from the primary target. This is a strategy that military personnel are very familiar with and it’s not just used in the military. Boxers use this strategy and you also see it employed frequently in football games. The overall goal of this strategy is to get the opponent’s attention off the primary goal being attacked. If you think about this from Satan’s viewpoint, he is a master of getting us so diverted and distracted that we have very little time for the things of God. Yes, we have great intentions and we love to see the participation trophies we obtain for those intentions, but when it comes to doing what we intended, it is often lacking in substance.

A diversion, as a principle, is neither positive nor negative until it is utilized and the intended outcome manifests. It all depends on the motivation behind it and who wins. If the person utilizing the diversion to gain something from an opponent and they are successful, then for them the diversion was extremely positive and had a positive outcome. The opposite is true for their opponent. For them it was negative all the way around. We can easily get distracted and diverted from doing something that we need to do because the things that distract us are often things that we enjoy. For example, how much of your free time do you spend on Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, or YouTube? If you were to evaluate this time, would you say that you spend more time using those apps than you think? I have an Apple phone and there is a setting on my phone where I can check to see how much “screen” time I am using. In other words, it tells me how much time I am looking at my screen. Now the only reason I would be looking at my screen is because I am engaged in something. When I was writing this message I checked my phone and saw that I had spent 4.5 hours on my phone reading and researching – as I do not play games on my phone. If I am looking at it, I am responding to a message, reading the news or researching something. Regardless though, that was a lot of time for just the first 4 days of the week. I was averaging an hour per day and I do not look at my phone that often. Now imagine if I was spending that same amount of time everyday studying God’s Word or in quiet praise and worship of Him. Distractions and diversions are two of the most powerful tools that our enemy uses effectively against us to steal our time because oftentimes we do not recognize it is being stolen – again because whatever it is that is distracting us is oftentimes something we enjoy.