You can’t do big things if you’re distracted by small things.

A man bought a new hunting dog. Eager to see how he’d perform, he took him out to track a bear. No sooner had they gotten into the woods than the dog picked up the bear’s trail. Suddenly he stopped, sniffed the ground, and headed in a new direction. He’d caught the scent of a deer that had crossed the bear’s path. A few moments later he halted again, this time smelling a rabbit that had crossed the path of the deer. And on and on it went until finally the breathless hunter caught up with his dog, only to find him barking triumphantly down the hole of a field mouse.

We may be the most distracted culture of all time. The cost of that is that many of us live superficial lives. While most rush through life, there’s little thought of what they’re doing or more importantly, WHY?    

Experts are talking about the negative effects distraction is having. Many of us feel it: the buzzing brain, attention atrophy, diminishing tolerance for reading, especially books. We’ve become conditioned to distraction where it’s “normal.” It’s harming our ability to listen or think. Worst of all, it’s damaging our relationships and it’s damaging our relationship with God. It takes focus to spend time with God, read the Bible, pray, and meditate. 

Distraction is a spiritual danger from which we need God’s deliverance. We find our tendency to be distracted from the more important to the less important cascading downward, detrimentally affecting relationships and responsibilities. We replace the eternal and significant with the immediate.

When we’re chronically distracted, we rush through and ultimately miss out on life. Ralph Waldo Emerson observed: In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed. When there’s not much underneath the surface of superficial routines, it’s best to move fast to distract ourselves from shallowness. Yet, when we discipline ourselves to slow down, we confront it. The confrontation can be frightening, but as we move through it, we begin to rediscover depth, purpose and meaning. 

Why do we rush? First because it’s the pace of our day. Then, many rush because of FOMO (fear of missing out), but you still miss out because no one can have it all. Instead, those who are wise choose what’s important. 

Let me encourage you to list out what you’re spending your time on. List out what takes most of your focus. Is it worth it? Is it important? Will it be important in a year? Ten years? In eternity? So, why are we so easily distracted and focused on what has little significance? 

We fail to consider the brevity of life. 

The Bible compares the length of life to fleeting things—a mist that appears for a little while and vanishes, a ship that passes swiftly in the night. Psalm 144 describes life as “a breath” and “a fleeting shadow.” Billy Graham was once asked if anything surprised him about life. He said, “Yes, the brevity of it. It passes so quickly,” and he lived to be 99 years old!

God’s Word teaches that the average life expectancy is 70 or 80 years (Psalm 90:10) The Apostle Paul wrote, “Outwardly we waste away” (2 Corinthians 4:16). As we age, everything takes more effort. Wrinkles, arthritis, joint pain, diminished hearing, and eyesight remind us our earthly body is temporary—this world is not our home. As someone said, The wood of the cradle rubs up tightly against the marble of the tomb.

Because our lives are brief, how foolish to disregard eternity and God’s will. It’s wise instead to follow the counsel of Psalm 90:12 and ask God to teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

We fail to consider the uncertainty of life. 

None of us are guaranteed a long life. Most believe they’ll someday retire. In the United States, about 10% to 15% of individuals fail to live to reach retirement age. The probability of dying between age 20 and the normal retirement age is 13%, with 16% for men and 10% for women. 

While our lives could be potentially long, they can also be unpredictably short. We’ve all felt the sting of a child’s tragic death or a friend’s life cut short in middle age. We know the warning in James 4:14 is true: What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James compares our lives to a fog that’s visible for a short while. Just like a fog, our lives are short. We don’t know how long we will live. Compared to eternity, our time is very brief.

Fragile: A vapor can be blown away by the wind or disappear as the sun rises. In the same way, our lives can change quickly and end unexpectedly.  

Unpredictable: We can’t control a vapor or tell it where to go. We also can’t control everything that happens in our lives.

The Bible teaches that those who are wise plan, yet in our planning we often forget life is uncertain. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. We act like we can plan out the details of our lives when we don’t even have control over the next five minutes.

A godly focus is the anchor that aligns our daily actions with God’s enduring purposes. By intentionally fixing our minds on eternal truths rather than temporary circumstances, we cultivate lasting peace, overcome anxiety, and discover the true, God-given direction for our lives. 

Our world is a master of distraction. When our attention is pulled in a thousand directions, we find ourselves feeling unstable, double-minded, and easily overwhelmed. Just as a ship loses its way without a compass, a life without spiritual focus drifts into emptiness, frustration and anxiety. 

When the great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, was contemplating what career he should pursue, his mother knew he could sing, but because she felt there was no money in his singing, she encouraged him to go to the university and become a teacher. However, his father believed he could be a great operatic singer. He encouraged him to continue developing his voice. To please both, Pavarotti enrolled in a teacher’s college yet continued his musical studies. After graduation, he asked his father, “Shall I be a teacher or a singer?” His father wisely avoided a direct answer. Instead, he spoke words that Pavarotti never forgot: “Luciano, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” 

You and I can only choose one chair in this life. Please be wise and choose the one that matters, not just for this short life but for eternity.