Gnats!

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” – Isaiah 26:3

Yes, gnats!! Those pesky little flies who love to hang around in the summer time. I was soaking in some morning sunshine and savoring a little quiet time to work on my bible study. Sitting right on the beach overlooking the water – the setting could not have been more perfect – except for the gnats!!!!

They were swarming around me. In my hair, my ears, my mouth. It was horrible. I knew this wasn’t an accident. The deceiver would love nothing more than for me to stop studying God’s Word. He will even use the smallest of insects to accomplish his goal. Well, I gave up on the perfect scenery and went inside, but kept studying!

I couldn’t help but think of all the others little things in my life that distract me and keep me from studying God’s Word, taking time to pray and listen for God’s whisper. There are certainly more things to distract me from God than there are things that lead me closer to Him. Especially in the world we live in.

A few years ago, “fitting” God in was a challenge, but the more I did it – the more I noticed all the time I had. Granted, I had been spending it in other ways and I have learned to fill it with God – not TV, not talking on the phone, not reading People while getting a pedicure – but spending it with God.

A little like spending all that time untangling my son’s Spiderman fishing pole. Not what I wanted to do at first and VERY challenging, but after seeing his face light up when I fixed it – that was worth all the time in the world. We need to get untangled and stop wasting our time on things of this world!

We need to sort through the things that take up more time than God.

I believe that this is one of those skills we will never master. We will always need God’s help to stay focused on Him and not the things of this world. I certainly have no power or discipline to do this on my own.

It all comes from Him!

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” – Isaiah 26:3