Apathy

Path Two: Distraction

Distraction: How can I care? (Path 2)

    Distraction answers the question of “how can I care?”: 

I’m too busy

I have to do this first

Now is not the time

Maybe after this, or once I… 

    This path isn’t mentioned much and is probably surprising. However, this is the most common path we take. Satan’s trick here is that he keeps you preoccupied with all the other stuff going on in your life, so you just “forget” to be loving. Or fall into this mentality that other things must come first. Let me give you a simple scenario. 

You’re in the car running errands for your parents. You’re in a hurry because you have practice in an hour. You rush toward the store, going over the list of items you need to get… when you notice a homeless man leaning against the wall. He’s holding a sign that says, “Anything helps.” You go into the store and get everything you need. Right before heading to check-out, you feel called to get that homeless man a sandwich and a bottle of water. You check the time. Ten minutes until practice. You’re going to be late. You check out and rush out the door without so much as a glance at the man. 

    An easy scenario to imagine, right? In this scenario, you prioritized making it to practice over God’s call to help someone in need. It would have taken three seconds to grab a sandwich and water bottle for that man, and give it to him. Sure, you would be late for practice, but no more than you were already going to be. 
    In Matthew 8:21, we see a man come to Jesus seeking to follow Him. “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” In response, Jesus tells him to follow Him and, “let the dead bury their own dead.” Jesus wants to be first in our lives. When He calls us to follow His lead, we should be willing to drop everything and do so. Just as each of twelve disciples did when Jesus called out to them. Instead, we tend to be like the guy in Matthew 8: 

“Lord, first let me do this, then I will follow You.” 

“Lord, if I can just do this first, then I can do Your will.” 

“I can’t do that right now, but after this I can.” 

My dad told me this once, and I think it is so good. In the Bible, we are told not to quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19) and not to grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30). Quenching the Spirit means that when the Holy Spirit, God’s voice, is telling you to do something, you say no. Grieving the Spirit means that when God tells you not to something, but you do it anyway. 

With the homeless man, when you chose to leave without getting food for the man-despite the Spirit telling you to- you had quenched the Spirit. Say when you get in the car to drive away, the Spirit tells you not to leave without helping the man. If you drive away anyway, you are grieving the Spirit. 

    Let me point out one last thing before moving on. God has a perfect plan for everything. His timing is absolutely perfect. He also knows everything going on in your life. He knew you were late for practice, but He also knew that it was the perfect time for you to be His loving hand to that man. 
We cannot tell God, “now is not the time.” because who are we- imperfect humans- to argue against the perfect God’s schedule? Acts 1:7 states in the words of Jesus, “It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by His authority.” We may not see it or know it, but everything fits perfectly within- not our timetable- but God’s timetable; and it is not always our job to know how it does. It is our job to submit and obey. 
One of my favorite passages in the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3, starts with this truth: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” If God wants you to make it to practice, you can trust that He made a way for you to help someone in need and still make it to practice. He has everything under His control, so don’t make any more “Lord, first” statements. Don’t let Satan use the distractions in life squash your empathy for others and your willingness to obey God when He calls you.