God has strongly impressed in my spirit over the past few weeks the need to
guard my heart, time and strength from numerous and sudden distractions that
would threaten to sidetrack me from my greater calling. Recently, I had a vision
while in prayer of a desperate man who needed help and was very forceful in his
devious attempt to convince me to leave my immediate work and go with him to who knows where. Although the situation in my vision seemed urgent, I sensed the
danger to my own calling had I given in to his demand. It was a grave warning
from God to protect that which has been entrusted to me in the business of the
Father’s House. Christians in all walks of life and ministry are presently being
challenged like never before with demands, needs and pressures of people, both
legitimate and unwarranted, which will call for decisive action on their part to
avoid needless and harmful disruptions to their peace of mind and purpose of
heart at all costs.
The devil’s “last days” tactic will be to wear out the saints in fatigue and discouragement through endless requests, urgent or not, from family, friends, associates, neighbours, phone calls, emails, interruptions, invitations, appointments, meetings, trips, schedules, agendas, programs and on and on and on. The busier we are, the better he likes it! Why? Because, if we allow it, these constant stresses will keep us running on our feet and off our knees—a truly powerful position that strikes fear into the hearts of the devil and his legions. This ultimately requires us to come to an abrupt stop and violently shout, “Enough! No more!” We simply cannot jeopardize our power, peace, anointing, blessing and favour of God through long neglect of our relationship with Him brought on by caving in to the fear of intimidating people who know how to manipulate our vulnerable emotions to get what they want. The woman who came to anoint Jesus with her alabaster box of precious perfume could have easily been distracted from her untainted act of worship by the degrading looks, sneers and comments openly made against her. Had she given in to the pressure of the crowd, she would have forfeited the perpetual honour given to her by Christ and the only opportunity to bless His heart like none other had.
I have experienced a number of these very people and situations in the past two or three weeks and have come to identify them as subtle, major distractions with the diabolical purpose of sidetracking me from my priorities in my ministry. Acts 6 is a prime example of the Early Apostles who deviated from their main responsibility of prayer and the ministry of the Word due to the valid, but wearisome needs of the people. The answer for this distraction was not to ignore the need, but rather to put in place a ministry team who could give their time and efforts in effectively taking care of the reasonable concerns in the church.
How we need the gift of spiritual discerning in this mad crazed world in which we live and serve to know the difference between a genuinely divine interruption ordained by the will of God and a direct planned assault against our prayer and devotional life through people who really don’t want to change, but only want our sympathy and support to enable them in their sinful lifestyle. Why do we feel so guilty if we do not accommodate them in their pursuit of self indulgence with absolutely no intentions to seek the Lord and grow in His word through godly counsel, prayer and church life with accountability? Did Jesus tolerate people like that? Did He put up with their callous attitudes and selfish demands that cry “you owe me!”? I think not! Nor did He vacillate with men who flat-out rejected His call after an inner-struggle with the cost. Consider the rich young ruler in Mark 10 who was lovingly confronted with his trust in his riches more than his desire to be saved and follow Christ. He wilfully made his choice after being presented with the
non-negotiable conditions of his discipleship—“sell all that you have and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come,
take up your cross and follow Me”. (verse 21)
Also consider that Jesus never compromised with him in order to gain another “convert” to His way—He didn’t stop the heart-broken young man as he sadly walked away as we would have, saying “Wait! Let’s make a deal—I’m sure we can work this out! I can tell that you’re sincere! We’ll take it easy with no conditions until you’re more comfortable and ready to change.” No. Christ would not be distracted or sidetracked from His compelling mission of preaching the demands of the Gospel of repentance and taking up the cross. Satan even used Peter, Christ’s
devout disciple and close friend to divert Him from His impending sufferings and ultimate death on the cross to which Jesus, discerning the attack, immediately
retaliated with the rebuke, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Oh, how we need to do likewise when we are being swayed from our course of destiny by well intended
friends who cannot grasp the magnitude of our utter commitment to our high
calling.
Are there God-appointed distractions? Absolutely—and we must identify them and then give our time, attention and care to the utmost, acknowledging that God is certainly in this. Jesus, on His way to the house of Jairus to heal his dying daughter, was brought to a sudden halt by a demanding situation—a clear distraction and disruption to His present purpose. And yet He recognized the irresistible touch of faith from a bleeding and desperate woman that Christ was powerless to ignore. Jesus encountered both kinds of “urgent” distractions and responded accordingly, only doing what His Father instructed Him to do. Pray long and pray hard for that degree of spiritual discerning, for many shall be the distractions that you will meet as you carry out your daily responsibilities along the cumbersome pathway of ministry. Some will be God-appointed to propel you to your next blessing, while others will be cunningly placed by Satan in an all-out effort to shut you down and you’d better know the difference! They’re both playing for keeps!
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Comments
Great warning in these complicated times, stick to the important and let the rest take care of itself.
Hear, hear - amen and amen!