Thought for Today
Genesis 11:9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me."
Acts 2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Are you easily distracted? Or, are you sharply focused, proceeding along a carefully plotted path, never distracted from your goal? Some days, I am one, some days, I am the other. I led a Bible Study at our former church for many years. I always carefully prepared my notes for the week, planning out the discussions with carefully selected questions and comments. Often, however, at the beginning of the meeting, someone would ask a question I had not anticipated. I quickly came to realize that insight and understanding came as often from those unanticipated questions as from my careful plans. We might only discuss and contemplate a single verse of the passage I had prepared to discuss; but, we grew closer to God from those diversions and distractions.
I was intrigued as I thought about distractions and being distracted today when I looked for synonyms for the word distracted. My computer offered: anxious; upset; troubled; agitated; and disturbed. My Roget’s Thesaurus suggested: diverted; confused; bewildered; and frenzied. None of those suggested synonyms captured for me the subtleties of being distracted. In a very real sense, each suggested synonym captured only a portion of the semantic totality of being distracted.
When I searched the Bible, especially the NRSV, the only verses using ‘distracted’ dealt with Martha. There is often a negative implication when we examine and contrast Martha to her sister Mary. Martha was laser-focused on the task at hand. Martha had a plan and insisted on sticking to the plan. “Luke 10:39 Mary . . . sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying.” Mary listened; Martha was distracted.
But, who was truly focused and who was truly distracted? The real, substantive difference between those 2 sisters was not a difference in focus or distraction. The difference was what they were focused upon. “Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
Are you easily distracted? Or, are you sharply focused, proceeding along a carefully plotted path, never distracted from your goal? Maybe the better question would be, “What is your goal?” Which is ‘the better part’? Is it more important, better, to clean everything, to tidy everything, to straighten up everything, or to listen to Jesus?
In that Bible Study, was it imperative to cover the allotted verses, to stay on schedule, or to ponder and discuss our questions, to help each other through and toward understanding the scriptures? Might we leave ourselves and/or others confused and conflicted by adhering to a rigid schedule?
Conversely, if we totally abandon plans and schedules, will anything ever get done? In Bible Study, in worship and in our lives, Christians must carefully navigate the path that opens up ahead. Christians cannot stand still on the path of life or the path of our journey of faith . Last Sunday, we sang the hymn In the Garden during worship. The final verse begins, “I’d stay in the garden with him, though the night around me be falling.” Mary would echo that sentiment. Most days, I would love to stay in the Garden, walking and talking with God. But that final verse continues, “But he bids me go; through the voice of woe his voice to me is calling.”
There is a time to be distracted from the world around us. There is a time to be laser-focused on the work God calls us to do in the world God has provided. Both distraction and focus must be joined together in fulfilling the tasks to which God has called us. “Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Stay safe, find your time for focus and for distraction, trust God,
Pastor Ray