Matthew 14:22-33

22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

 

We all get distracted at times. There is so much in this world that keeps our attention away from the Lord and what He wants for our lives. It may not be anything bad that has our attention. It could even be our service for God. When our focus becomes on what we are doing or how we are doing it instead of glorifying God, we are distracted.

We have to pay attention to what is going on around us and who we are spending time with. When we become consumed with everything around us we stray away from God.  That is when the devil likes to sneak in and keep our focus pointed in the wrong direction. The longer we stay there the harder it is to turn back. It is usually a gradual thing. We miss church one week and then it becomes two. We go to that party once and nothing bad happens so we go back again. We allow our minds to drift because no one is around or watching. Before we know it we are neck deep in the sin. We look around and say, “How did I get here?”

The great news is God is just waiting for us to ask Him for help. Look at Peter and when he stepped out of the boat.  As long as his focus was on Jesus he was doing good. When he started focusing on the water he started to sink. All he had to do is ask Jesus to help him and Jesus reached out and pulled him up. He is there for all of us too.

I definitely get distracted. I have unfinished projects all over the place. I started a blanket over ten years ago that still isn’t finished. Surely I’m not alone in this. This blog was one of those projects I started and said I’m going to post once a week. Well, those of you who follow it know I failed miserably at that. It has been over a month since I posted anything. I’m not going to promise weekly posts from here on out but I am going to try and do better. God laid it on my heart to do this and I should honor Him by studying more and sharing more.

So my challenge to myself and others who are reading this…..take some time to examine where your focus has been. If it has been on God, great!  Keep up the good work and keep moving forward. If it has been on everything else around you, then take some time in prayer and study God’s Word to see what He would have you do. Let Him reprioritize your to do lists.