As Christians, God wants to make each of us “winners” in our Christian race. The enemy works hard to distract us and get us off-track. Discover powerful strategies to avoid being distracted by the enemy and become a winner in your Christian journey. When we think of winners in sports, like runners, quarterbacks, or bodybuilders, it is easy to imagine that these individuals must live focused lives. They must dominate distractions rather than be distracted. I picture that athletes spend a tremendous amount of time perfecting their skills.

About a month ago, I felt overwhelmed with deadlines and responsibilities, so I prayed to God and asked Him for help. I was upset about my unfair workload and wanted to complain to God about everything I had to do. I wanted God to change the situation and perhaps explain to the supervisors that they were asking too much from me. I wanted fairness, but as I prayed, God led me to study His Word as He spoke one word into my Spirit, “Distractions.”

Initially, I did not understand how the word “distractions” related to my prayer, but God is faithful and will give wisdom when we ask. The truth about all distractions is they subtract. Distractions seek to take away our attention and focus. In my case, I believe the enemy was trying to pull my attention away from God. He was hoping to cause me to dwell on my problems. If the enemy could get me preoccupied with my situation, I could have possibly found myself mad and upset and could have taken my eyes off God and the Kingdom race.

Regardless of our life responsibilities or the jobs we do, as Christians and children of God, we have an obligation to be winners in the Kingdom of God. I believe God wants us to learn how to win this race despite the distractions that try to sneak in. The Christian race will not always be easy, but we must run this race with God as obedient children.

To be a winner in our Christian race, we must know, do, and focus on God in the presence of distractions. The enemy will try to distract us from God and His plan. He has been trying to do this since Eve. When the serpent distracted Eve, he started by challenging what Eve knew, what she did, and where she focused her thoughts.

Avoid Being Distracted From What You Know

In Genesis, the Bible tells the story of when the enemy found Eve in the garden alone. The enemy distracted and overwhelmed Eve with questions regarding what she knew about the forbidden tree. When he distracted Eve, the enemy caused her to doubt what God had said by questioning her.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Genesis 3:1- 7 NKJV

No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we must remember what the Word says about us and choose to have faith. We know that God does not want His children to be distracted or overwhelmed as He invites us to cast all of our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7). We also know that He promises to provide for our needs, and He will not withhold any good thing (Psalm 84:11). We have to hold on to these truths no matter what, even when the enemy questions our beliefs.

Don’t Be Distracted By Flesh

The enemy will do whatever he can to encourage us to do something against God’s plan. He is always trying to steer us off-course with disobedience. When we focus on sins and fleshly desires rather than God’s plan, we can become distracted from God as we try to take care of ourselves rather than look to our Heavenly Father to care for our needs in His perfect timing.

Satan tries to convince us to do things independently and worry about our needs, like food. For Eve, the fruit was pleasing to the eye and held the opportunity to satisfy her flesh. In giving in to her desire to eat the fruit, she went against what God said. The Bible is clear that we must walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh because the flesh and Spirit are opposed to each other (Galatians 5:16-17). A mind focused on fleshly desires and needs is hostile to God and does not submit to God’s laws (Romans 8:7).

When Jesus was hungry from fasting, the enemy tried to tempt Him to instantly satisfy his hunger by commanding the stones to turn to bread (Matthew 4:3), but Jesus resisted. Another time, the enemy tried to tempt Jesus with the promise of riches if Jesus would bow to Satan. Jesus defeated the enemy with the Word and told the enemy, “It is written…”

Sometimes, we are distracted by our feelings. The Bible tells us not to be anxious or worry about our lives. We should not worry about eating, drinking, or wearing (Matthew 6:24-34). We are not to be anxious, but rather, we should pray.

Don’t Allow Your Focus To Be Distracted

We will go through situations, but we can’t allow our focus to be distracted. We must remember that God will not let His children go through more temptation than we can handle. He will always provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). No matter how the enemy tries to convince us otherwise, we must focus on God and fix our eyes on His ways (Psalm 119:15). We know that our God is good, so rather than entertain the enemy, we must submit ourselves to God and resist the Devil, which will cause him to flee (James 4:7).

The enemy will attempt to tempt us with material things, riches, or various instant gratification forms. In the case of Eve, the enemy promised that if she ate from the forbidden tree, she would be like God and have wisdom. We must be careful not to allow our focus to be distracted. The Bible tells us to set our minds on things above and not on things on Earth ( Colossians 3:1-2). We must seek the Kingdom of God first.

As Eve ate the fruit, she focused on being like God rather than being a child of God. Instantly, her worry-free life changed. The enemy knew Eve would forfeit the peace as she ate the fruit and gave it to her husband. The enemy wants us to become overwhelmed, and he wants us to feel that we can not succeed in our endeavors.

When I felt overwhelmed with my job, I was worried about what I thought might happen tomorrow. God warned me that what I was concerned about was simply a distraction from the enemy. At the time, due to Covid-19, I could not see how it would be possible to do the job asked of me. As I prayed, God helped me more than I could imagine. The whole situation worked out when the students went to a hybrid model and were not attending school five days a week. What I was worried about was not even an issue; it was merely a distraction sent by the enemy to steal my joy. As I prayed, God was already working it out in my favor and preparing my way of escape.

A Prayer To Fight The Enemy And Win

Let’s pray that God will help us win in our Christian race as we learn to deal with overwhelm and distractions in a pleasing manner that honors God. We want to know, do, and focus only on God’s plan for us and not allow the enemy to cause us to lose joy and peace by taking us off track with worry, uncertainty, or other distractions.

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