Distractions Cloud Your Vision! 2-15–26

Welcome to the word for the week. There are two words to consider for our word this week. One is distraction and the other is cloud. Not the clouds in the air but the clouds of life that try to cover things so you cannot see the clearly. Here’s the point right out the gate this week. There is a simple and repetitive process the enemy uses against you. Ezra 4:5 speaks of the enemy hiring counselors to frustrate the purpose of Israel. In other words, they found people who would constantly get in their way. The goal was simple. Stand in their way until they give up. That is what the enemy is still trying to do today to all us. He tries to stand in your way long enough in order to get you to give up on God. Let’s go further.

It is not enough to simply stand in your way as a distraction. After all, if you see something as a distraction it will actually motivate you not to cave in. You will fight back just on principle. But what happens when you cannot see the distraction because of the cloudiness in front of it? What happens when you think you are looking at one thing but it is actually something else? In other words, how many things have you misdiagnosed because nothing was really clear? It is frustrating when you cannot see something clearly. It is frustrating when you cannot properly perceive what is in front of you. It is frustrating when you have a battle but you do not know exactly what it is that you are fighting. I’ll say this again. The enemy has a very limited playbook and a lot of those tactics require us to be frustrated in order to succeed.

There is a reason that the bible tells us that man goes by the outward appearance. If we think it looks a certain way then that is what we insist it is. What happens when you are wrong? Do you backtrack and regroup? Do you make an honest attempt to right the wrong? Think about this for a moment. How much easier is it to use someone against themself versus you having to fight them? Forgiveness is a must but imagine convincing the person that some things you cannot forgive. Imagine convincing that person of that even though God has forgiven them for far worse. If forgiveness is impossible then how are they still standing? Because our thinking plays a big part in who we are it is important to guard your thought process. You cannot afford for your own mind to cloud your vision and change the perception of what you see. Here is help in that area. Let the same mindset that was in Christ Jesus also be in you.

There is calm before a tornado. Yet, it is one of the fastest destructive storms. It is the calmness that makes people not take it seriously. Just because it feels peaceful does not mean that it is. If you had to distract someone you would do whatever it takes to make them as comfortable as possible. You would make sure they are having a time of their life so they do not see the danger on the way. The band does not march before the army in a war. There is silence as that army gets into position for the attack. Do not be frustrated in this season because it clouds your thinking. It clouds your heart and it causes you to not be able to hear God as you should. Frustration sidetracks you and will have you chasing things that are not relevant in the big picture. Focus on God is the point. Trust in God. Trust what He has already said in His word. Remind yourself daily that God will never leave you. Remind yourself daily that He will supply all of your needs. You will be amazed at how great the expected outcome will be if you just learn to depend on God.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you in His grace,
Bishop Carlos J. Lennon