Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
DAILY READING Romans 13; 1 Samuel 25; Psalm 68
On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was bound for Miami from New York City with a load of holiday passengers. As the huge aircraft approached the Miami Airport for its landing, a light that indicates proper deployment of the landing gear failed to come on. The plane flew in a large, looping circle over the swamps of the Everglades while the cockpit crew checked out the light failure. Their question was this, had the landing gear actually not deployed or was it just the light bulb that was defective?
To begin with, the flight engineer fiddled with the bulb. He tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t budge. Another member of the crew tried to help out…and then another. And eventually, unbelievably, all eyes were on the little light bulb that refused to be dislodged from its socket. With the distraction, no one noticed that the autopilot had inadvertently been disconnected and, as a result, the aircraft gradually was losing altitude. Finally, the plane dropped and crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities. The pilots and the flight engineer, two of 10 flight attendants, and 96 of 163 passengers died; 75 passengers and crew survived. The crash occurred while the entire cockpit crew was preoccupied with a burnt-out landing gear indicator light. The experienced crew of high-priced and seasoned pilots had focused on a seventy-five-cent light bulb, while an entire airplane and many of its passengers were lost. It became one of the most notorious plane crashes in history, because the pilot failed to focus on flying the plane but had rather focused on a little light bulb!
Similarly such loss of focus has led to the crash of many destinies. Indeed you can’t achieve great things if you’re distracted by small things.
Matthew 14:29-30 says ‘And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”
The Lord had called Peter to do the impossible; to walk on water. Peter had obeyed and stepped out by faith. His journey was going on well, when suddenly distractions came. And the moment he took his eyes off The Master and began to focus on these distractions he began to sink.
Indeed distractions can be deadly on the journey of destiny.
Like Peter, God has called many of us to achieve the impossible this year. We have stepped out by faith and began to walk on the water, towards our goal. If only we will keep walking, we will soon reach our destination of glory.
But then oftentimes, we find we have to contend with the roar of distractions. The storm and rain will often come to beat upon the house we are building, trying to get it to fall. Boisterous winds of challenges will suddenly erupt to try to stop our journey. However the depth of our foundation and focus on God’s instruction will determine what happens to us.
We have to look away from those things that are trying to distract and entangle us in the yoke of bondage. No matter how boisterous the wind we must keep walking towards our destination. Ignore the rumbling voices and negative talk and Keep your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Distractions are side attractions that try to shift your attention from your main purpose. Distractions are usually noisy and the aim is to arrest your focus so that you could be displaced from your goal. But the truth is that if you mind the opposition you will lose your position.
Winston Churchill said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”
In this present age, the enemy is bringing up all kinds of distractions to shift men from their divine call and purpose. Mass distraction has hit the world like never before in this end times and is knocking many people off course, as they spend precious hours on what doesn’t matter.
Hebrews 12:1-2, [NIV] says “…Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”
Keep your eyes on Jesus, irrespective of what comes your way. Keep looking up, because those who look at the sun do not see the shadows that fall behind. On this journey if you look down, you will see discouragement and disappointment; if you look back, you will see regrets and mistakes; if you look around, you will see distractions, but if you look up, you will see victory and triumph. Let us therefore keep looking up to Jesus via His Word, fervent prayers and praise. By focusing on God’s call and ignoring the noise of the wind. we will walk on the water and not sink. Your glory days are just around the corner, and as you keep your focus on Jesus and ignore the noise of distractions you will surely soon reach your destination of glory.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for the grace to keep my focus on the race before me, no matter what happens around me. Please help me to make Your plan and purpose always top priority in my life. By Your grace I have overcome every distraction in Jesus Name. .
QUOTE
Your attitude always determines your altitude in life. -WORDBITE 222