What do you hear?

A word from Dr. Kristi:

I want to take you back to Shell Island today, my favorite place to be. I spoke about it a couple weeks ago in another blog entitled Deep Calls Out to Deep.

One day as I was walking on Shell Island and just being in the Lord‘s presence, I began to hear a buzzing noise. It grew louder and louder. I ceased walking and I looked around to see where the noise was coming from and what might be causing it. Out of the depth of the blue water, I saw a wave runner on the horizon. I watched it approach the island and thought how fun it would be to ride a wave runner in this special location.  I would not have to walk through the waters and would be able to bring my computer with me to write and then just zoom around when I wanted a break. "I wonder how much it would cost to purchase one? I wonder where I could keep it?" These two thoughts and many more began flooding my mind.

As the wave runner eventually drove out of sight, my thoughts turned back to the Lord. I have to say, I was not expecting the lesson the Lord revealed to me from this experience.  Here is what He spoke to my heart:
How quickly I was distracted when I heard the buzzing noise. This was my "special place with the Lord" and yet I almost immediately left my conversation with Him to investigate the sound.

My heart dropped with sadness and I repented in that moment. "Oh Lord, I am so sorry."

Since then, I have asked the Lord to reveal to me times when I am distracted from His presence. Here is a list of things that have surfaced: a phone call, a beep from my phone alerting me that I received a text, an agenda item on my to-do list pops into my mind, an interruption from my assistant with a question, my dog and cat wanting to be petted, my husband asking me a question, and many others. These items in and of themselves are not bad or wrong. I just allowed them to cease a conversation with the Lord.

So what about you? What disruptions take place in your life when you are praying, talking with the Lord, or studying His Word?

So how do we address not being easily distracted? We can keep our phones in another room. We can close the door to limit disruptions. But honestly, these distractions will never cease.  We can attempt to minimize the possibility of them transpiring, but inevitably, the enemy will not cease.  All we can do is acknowledge them when they occur and ask for forgiveness and move on.