The More Needful Thing (The Deceptive Art of Distraction)

For those of you who know me personally, you'd most likely know how I work for the devil. There are so many horror stories, it would require more than three different hash tags for #leadershipfail because if I were to tweet them all, the world wide web would certainly come crashing down from complete system overload thus resulting in the rapture of the church or a zombie apocalypse. Ok. So that's probably a bit of a stretch. Zombie apocalypse first, rapture second. I digress.

I have a confession to make. Today was actually my last day at my less-than-completely-awesome place of employment. You wouldn't believe how much sweeter strawberries taste, how refreshing the 100 degree, non-existent wind gusting Texas air is and how much my life seems to have slowed down to snails pace less than an hour after I turned in my key card.

Last night, as I was watching The Incredibles for the hundred-thousandth time with my son, I pulled him close to me, gave him a big hug, kissed him on the cheek and told him I loved him as though it may have been my last chance. What I realized in that moment was that I had allowed my not-so-desirable job situation to steal my joy for an entire year of my life. I had allowed it to rob me of the opportunity to enjoy my family time, steal my health, cloud my mind and bring untold elements of anxiety into my life. In some ways, I even allowed it to change me.

I was on my way to church to film a 60 second internet spot to introduce a class I'm teaching this fall at my church, and it hit me, I was put on this earth to help people, teach people and grow...people. What in the world was I doing for the past year of my life? Why did I wait so long to find something else? Then it hit me, like a lightening bolt of wisdom and knowledge that almost split my brain in two. Distraction. One word. Plain and simple. Distraction. 

We've all heard the story about Mary and Martha when Jesus came to their house. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, and Martha was whipping out the Pine Sol and the Swiffer Duster ready to take down dust bunnies like Clint Eastwood in a bar full of baddies. Martha thought it was so unfair that she was doing all the work, that she told Jesus to tell Mary what for! Jesus responded to Martha by saying that Mary had chosen the more needful thing. WHAT???

If that's the case, then that means that sometimes WE allow OURSELVES to be "cumbered about" with many things. Could it be that by choosing not to do anything about my job situation, that I was the one responsible for neglecting what is needful? I believe so. I also believe that this is one of the toughest pills to swallow in our culture because we avoid assuming responsibility for our faults or failures like a red neck at a beauty pageant. 

Jesus Christ, Who He is, what He did for us and who we are in Him are the most important things in life. Everything else is secondary. Learn from my mistakes. Don't allow external situations to rob you of your time with your family, rob you of your peace or ultimately rob you of your destiny. Take a moment right now to examine your life. 

Are there things that are stealing your joy or robbing you of your peace? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify those things and eliminate or change them for the glory of God. Refuse to allow things to distract you from what is needful. Tell your spouse you love them more, hold your kids tighter, take a deep breath and make it a point to enjoy your life rather than stress about it.