Submitted by Lara Cook
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various
trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let
endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing. James 1:2–4
The word distraction usually holds a negative connotation. It typically refers to something that causes
us to lose our focus or concentration.
It flies back and forth on the tongues of psychologists and teachers in
regard to us mastering control over the distractions of our lives; especially the
ones that are not positive. But
sometimes, I believe, a distraction can be a blessed event God brings into our
lives for a specific purpose.
It is so easy to feel beat down by
life today. There are many reasons for
any given person to wallow in self-pity.
Let’s face it, life is just plain hard.
There are tragedies and accidents going on all around us. There are natural disasters and national
disasters. Most of all, we feel the
heaviness of life a little closer to home.
The loss of a job, financial trouble, divorce, problem child, or the
death of a loved one - all of these can lead us to feeling defeated and sorry
for ourselves. And honestly, who’s to say we don’t deserve to feel a little
sorry for ourselves when hard things happen to us or someone we love?
Blessed Distractions
We all have experienced something
significantly difficult at some point in our life but there are a few times
that I have been right in the middle of some really difficult times and God has
brought someone or something into my life that proved to be a blessed
distraction. When I say “blessed
distraction”, I’m talking about someone or something that takes my focus off my
pain and suffering and causes me to focus on how I can help someone else. I believe that God does this on purpose to
help us be stronger. When you feel weak
and beat down by your own problems and there is a crisis and you are needed by
someone else, it’s amazing how we can find the strength to be there for them.
God can also use us to help someone
else through difficulties relating their experience to some of the burdens we
have endured. Unexpected lessons come
out of life circumstances. Sharing what
we learn about how God helped can be a great asset to help others. 2 Corinthians
1:3-5 tells us: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the
sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant
through Christ.
We are comforted by Christ so that
we, in turn, can be comforters for others.
In doing so, we concentrate on others and heal faster from our own
pain. It feels good when we are used by
God to help others! When you are
suffering, look around and see who else is suffering. How can you help? James says we can be thankful that we have
suffered so that we can be used by God. When
you suffer, you learn about pain and that causes us to understand and to care
for others in their trial. That is why
God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.
Scripture to Claim:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with
humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not
merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of
others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
