Distraction!

I first read The Screwtape Letters in high school.

I'm reading it again now, and it's amazing how differently a book speaks to you depending on the season you're in.

One thing that has stayed with me is how subtly distraction works.

Not always through obvious sin.

Sometimes through busyness.

We've become very good at staying busy.

Busy enough to avoid silence.

Busy enough to outrun intentionality.

Busy enough to never ask deeper questions.

Our calendars are full.

Our hearts are exhausted.

We wear exhaustion like a badge of honor, as if being needed is the same thing as being faithful.

One of the most convicting ideas in The Screwtape Letters is that our attention is constantly being pulled away from what matters most. We become so occupied with the immediate, the urgent, and the next thing on the schedule that we slowly lose sight of eternity.

That feels strangely familiar.

The enemy doesn't always need to lead us into rebellion.

Sometimes he simply needs to keep us distracted.

Too distracted to pray.

Too distracted to notice the person in front of us.

Too distracted to sit quietly with the Lord.

Too distracted to recognize that our souls are running on empty.

Jesus was never in a hurry.

He had every reason to be.

Crowds followed Him.

People were waiting to be healed.

There were towns still to visit and sermons still to preach.

Yet He always seemed to have time.

Time for interruptions.

Time for children.

Time for the woman everyone else overlooked.

Time to ask more questions, even when he already knew the answer.

Love has never been hurried.

A full schedule does not always mean a full life.

The most fruitful branches are not the ones striving the hardest.

They are the ones abiding the longest.

Maybe that's why Jesus never told His disciples to become busier.

He invited them to remain.

To abide and to just be with Him.

One of the greatest spiritual disciplines in our generation is simply refusing to let busyness become more familiar than the voice of God.

“He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with their stumbles.” C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters