Braving the Storm of Distractions

 

Satan’s Weapon—Distractions 

The Devil has many weapons at his disposal that he uses to try to destroy us. Some are bold and blatant; others are discreet and cunning. Often he will use multiple at the same time to wear us down until a seamlessly unimportant thing slips through and causes us to stumble.

One of the devil’s most effective weapons that every one of us has been hit with is distractions. Remember, he will use everything he can against us. Even though he knows he cannot win, he will try to score as many points against us as possible, trying to take us with him. As Rev. 12:10 calls him “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night…”

King David, (who has a testimony from Yah as being a man after His own heart—Acts 13:22), wrote Ps.63 along with many others in which he expressed his attitude towards Yah with statements like:

• Ps. 63:1 “…O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”
• Ps 63:6 “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”
• Ps. 63:8 “My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”

How could a man who had this kind of dedication and focus slip up and fail so badly as he did with Bathsheba? What happened?

We find a clue in James 1:13-14 “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

So what happened? The answer is that he started to let distractions creep between himself and Yah. He allowed himself lose focus on what was most important and thereby enabled Satan to seize the opportunity.

Distractions, however, are not necessarily always bad. For example: when we use Yah’s Word to distract ourselves from the problems of this world.

The key is, distractions are destructive when they distract us from our covenant that we have made with Yah. This is precisely what the devil tries to do to us. His distractions can come in many forms and can be anything that takes our focus off of our Creator.Some of these might be:

• Our jobs
• Hobbies, projects or entertainment 
• News 
• Family, friends or relationships

Since none of these things are necessarily bad on their own, where does the problem come in?

It comes down to prioritizing—allowing ourselves to become so obsessed in our thoughts and actions with these things that we forget to have Yah be our first and primary focus. Now I realize this is much easier said than done… and what exactly it means to put Him first, we will get to in a minute.

I am sure we have all found ourselves in the predicament of being distracted by these things many times. I know I certainly have! It seems to be a constant never-ending struggle that we will only truly be able to overcome when we are no longer in these physical bodies with our human nature.  

I like to use this analogy: Our lives are just like driving down the highway on a journey. If we get distracted and take our eyes off of where we are going, sooner or later we are going to drift over and hit that rumble strip. When we get that jolt, it is a wakeup call warning us that we are headed off the path.

In our lives, that jolt can come in many forms such as anxiety, stress, anger… anything that opens our eyes and wakes us up to the fact that we are drifting off the road in our relationship with our Creator and that our spiritual health is not where it should be. Then we have a choice to make— do we just continue or do we correct our trajectory? We must take immediate corrective action or we will crash.

Prioritizing

Mankind was created and given a very short and limited amount of time in this life. Certainly not enough to do all the things that we would like to do! Whether we like it or not, we are forced to prioritize the things that are the most important to us.

This fact can actually be a helpful “self-check” when we take an honest look at ourselves and see how we are dividing up and spending our precious time. Everything we do is making a choice; doing nothing is doing something. Time does not stop, and therefore, neither does our “choice” of how we spend our time.

 Don’t get me wrong…there is nothing wrong with doing things that we enjoy that aren’t necessarily “useful” for anything other than just pleasure. As king Solomon said in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”

The main point (and where we can use our “self-check”) is to make sure our primary focus is on our relationship with our Creator and that we are not allowing anything to distract us from that.

One story that really drives home the point for me is found in Mat. 14:28-31 “And Peter answered Him [Yeshua] and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ ²⁹ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Yeshua. ³⁰ But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ ³¹ And immediately Yeshua stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

The problem wasn’t the wind and the waves. The problem was that Peter allowed himself to be distracted by them, took his eyes off of Messiah and fixated on how the wind and the waves were stronger and more powerful then he was. That allowed him to become fearful and forget that Yah is in control and more powerful than all that was going on.

The same thing all too often happens in our lives as well. When things come up and problems and difficulties arise that we don’t have control over, it’s easy for us to fixate on the problem and start to worry and stress instead of keeping our focus on the One who does have control.

For us to be able to fully place our faith and confidence in our Creator, trusting in Him, we have to build a strong relationship with Him. We have to get to know Him and what He is doing for us. We would be foolish to put our faith in something that we have little or no knowledge of.

The Foundation Upon Which We Build

We, as members of the body of believers are in a marriage contract with our Savior and King, Yeshua.

In order to have a close and lasting relationship with someone, you must have common ground to build that relationship on. We cannot have a close relationship with someone that does not share our values or long term goals. As it says in Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”

The same is true between our Savior and us. Before we can become part of His family dwelling in His presence, we must become like Him. Since He is already perfect in every way and is unchanging as Heb. 13:8 says, “Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” so any changes that must take place for us to be in the same image as our Creator must take place within us.

2 Cor. 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of Yahweh, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of Yahweh.”

Since Messiah and His Word is where we are placing our hope, and what we are using as a defense and our foundation, it must be stable and something that we can rely on to always be the same and unchanging.

A question I have asked myself is—what if truth was only as important to Yah as it is to the people in the world today? What if our Creator could change His mind, or decide that He didn’t have to keep His promises to us? What if He was always changing when and how we are to worship Him? These are all scary thoughts indeed.

The truth of the matter is that if we could not have faith and confidence that Yah cannot lie, that His plan of redemption for us has not and never will change, or that He has protected His holy Word from corruption… then we are without hope and have no future to look forward to.  

1 Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Messiah, we are of all men the most pitiable”.

But we do have hope! We have a promise, 1 John 2:25 “and this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life”.

None of us have audibly heard this promise, nor have we seen it yet as Heb. 11 (also known as the faith chapter) talks a lot about. We have only read it in His Word.

Just as “…When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself” (Heb. 6:13), so His holy and inspired Word verifies itself.

Heb. 6:16-20 “For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. ¹⁷ Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, ¹⁸ that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. ¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, ²⁰ where the forerunner has entered for us, even Yeshua, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”.

Our entire way of life as servants of Elohim is dependent on our faith and belief in His holy Word as the inspired and unchanging truth upon which we build. As the writer of Ps. 119:160 speaking of Yah says: “The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

And also, as Yeshua, Himself, said in prayer to His Father in John 17:17: "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

In Heb. 4:12 we read “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

When we make it the primary focus in our lives, it changes us—separating out and peeling away our weaknesses and at the same time, molding and shaping us into the same image as our King and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah.

In Mat 24:24 our Savior gave us this dire warning “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

At these times in life, the only answer is to keep our focus on Yah and remember that He is in control—that is the only way we can be in a state of not fearing the wind and waves when problems arise.

Thinking about the warning there in Matt. 24:24 of the times that lie ahead, I am reminded of Ecc. 12:1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”

The time to build a relationship with our Creator is not right when we need it, or as it has been termed “a foxhole repentance,” but the time is now! As we read in Is. 55:6 “Seek Yahweh while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.”

A parable Yeshua gave that makes the point quite well is the parable of the sower in:

Mar. 4:3-8, 14-20 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” ...

¹⁴ “The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

We need deep roots and a foundation in the Word. That is our only hope in the times that lie ahead, but that is not something that can be built overnight. We have to build that now before it is our only sustenance. It is about preparing now for the future. Is that not what we are here for?

Other examples in scripture of preparing for the future are of Joseph in Egypt storing up during the good years and the story of the 10 virgins in Matt. 25.

In Mat 7:24-27 Messiah said “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

When we have built our foundation on the rock [Messiah] and have a strong relationship with our Creator, it makes it easier to keep from being distracted in the first place. When the waves and the storm fall on us we are not moved—unlike the man who built his house on the sand.

Putting Yah First

For those of us who are baptized, we entered into that covenant with our Redeemer and took that oath to follow and serve Him. We knew it was not going to be an easy lax-a-daisy road—that was never what we were promised. In fact, quite the opposite.

As we read in Luke 14:26-33 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

This is not saying we literally have to forsake everything Yah has blessed us with. Or that we have to hate our family. If we did, that right there would be breaking our Creator’s law. What this is saying is that in comparison we have to prioritize our relationship with our Creator so much more than these things that they don’t even compare and there is no question about which is more important to us!

If we don’t recognize what a precious and special gift our calling is that we have been given, it will be hard for us to put it first and we will find ourselves easily distracted with the things going on around us.

Mat 19:23-30  “Then Yeshua said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ ²⁵ When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ ²⁶ But Yeshua looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ²⁷ Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?’ ²⁸ So Yeshua said to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Looking forward to the goal, I find the words of David in Ps. 39:5-8 inspiring and the outlook that we should all have. “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. ⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. ⁷ And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. ⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.”

Having this mindset and looking forward to the goal of the kingdom, let’s remember 1 Cor. 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Phil. 3:12-14  “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Messiah Yeshua has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Messiah Yeshua.

 

Moving Forward

As we press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of Elohim, let’s ask ourselves some questions about the Feast of Tabernacles that we just completed:

• Did we truly come out of this world? 
• Did we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior and King? 
• Did we draw closer to our Creator each and every day? 
• Did we go back to our lives with renewed vigor and determination to become more like our Savior? 
• Was the majority of our time spent on studying and discussing Yah’s word, rejoicing in Him and not just our own pleasures? 
• And then of course, did we build and strengthen the brotherhood by spending time with like-minded brethren who are a positive influence on us and encourage us in our walk with our Creator?

These are all good questions to ask ourselves—criteria that will help us determine how beneficial this past Feast of Tabernacles was for us. Hopefully we can all answer “yes” to these questions. If not, hopefully they can show us where we can improve to maximize the potential of the set apart times that Yah has given us.

We know that we are to leave the world behind during these holy days to meet with Yahweh by an appointment as Lev. 23:4 says, “These are the feasts of Yahweh, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” But after they are over and as we all head back to our lives in the world, a question remains—what about the time between Yah’s holy convocations? Is there anything we need to pay special attention to? After all, we do not have anymore set apart times until we reach Passover in the spring. We know we cannot remain as disconnected from this world as we hopefully were during this past Feast of Tabernacles.

As Yeshua Himself says in John 17:15-16 “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

We are not part of the world, but we do live among them. We are to be separate yet not isolated. How do we remain separate yet not isolated?

Let’s ask ourselves another question. After we got back to our homes from the Feast, have we been continuing to put Yah first and make Him the focus of our lives, or did we just end up trying to fit Him in wherever it was convenient? This might seem like a harsh question that doesn’t leave room for consideration of our busy schedules as we catch back up on whatever we have waiting for us in the weeks following the Feast. However, this is no time to relax and let our guard down. It is imperative that we still put in the same amount of effort and diligence to studying and spending time with our Creator as we were this past Feast.

1 Pet. 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Satan knows that if he can hit us with enough distractions, especially right after the Feast when returning to our lives is a little chaotic, and cause us to falter in our new goals of continuing to put Yah first, he stands a better chance of succeeding.

Luke 21:34-35 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. ³⁵ For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

1 Cor. 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

One way to help ourselves overcome the temptations and distractions is by building good habits of putting Yah first and making Him a part of everything we do. As we read in Prov. 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  

Start the day off with prayer and study to make sure the most important things get done first. There is no better time to do so than right now. During this past Feast hopefully we have already started this habit; we just have to keep it going! We do not want to be the seed that fell among the thorns and was choked by the cares of this world and became unfruitful. We want to be the seed that fell on the good ground and yielded a crop. Accordingly, let us be diligent to not allow Satan to take away what we have just gained. Instead, let us apply Yah’s word to our lives and look ahead to the time to come.     

Heb. 12:1-2 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Let this be our focus moving forward and may we all “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18).