Proverbs Day 4

Proverbs 4:25-27 ~

Keep looking straight ahead,
   without turning aside.
Know where you are headed,
   and you will stay
   on solid ground.
Don't make a mistake by turning
   to the right or the left.


(Contemporary English Version)

In this current age of Internet, facebook, twitter, blogs, email inboxes (busting at the seams), news channels with four stories streaming across the screen at the same time, it's easy to get a little distracted! Okay, a LOT distracted. I'm the first one to raise my hand and admit "Guilty!" I love all this stuff and have some fun with it, but I have to constantly pull myself back from letting it consume too much of my attention.

We have so much coming at us, but for some reason, we keep demanding more. When is enough information, enough? The more things we scatter our attention to, the more diluted our focus becomes. It becomes like walking through a dense fog. You lose your sense of direction.

I remember years ago when my husband wanted to become a pilot and we owned a share in a small airplane. It was fun to go places, but there were a couple of times that we encountered bad weather that made me a little nervous. One time we got into some clouds and we couldn't see anything outside the airplane. Not one thing! My husband knew what he was doing, because he was trained to read the instruments when he didn't have visual clarity. I, on the other hand, did not have the knowledge he did, and I was completely disoriented. I couldn't tell up from down anymore in this thick cloud. It was scary until I could see clearly again. He knew where he was headed and he trusted the instruments to tell him where he was and lead him correctly. If he had relied on his visual senses, we could have ended up in a crash.

In life it is of the utmost importance to keep your focus on the right target. We need to look to God for our direction and to keep us navigating confusing situations according to His instructions. If we get our eyes off of Him, and begin to let the chatter going on around us replace His voice, we're going to get off course and end up in a bad place. We'll start believing things we hear over what His word says.

Remember, we're in the world but not of it. We are passing through, so be careful not to get drawn aside, coming to a standstill in your journey, or worse - slipping backwards. Keep looking straight ahead and trust His direction, even when you're not sure it makes sense. You can't trust your senses. Sometimes they lie to you. Trust Him only!