How to Find God in a World of Distractions

God's presence is always with us. Within the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the grandness and complexity of the earth we live in, between jobs, the internet, taxes, social media, and through all the noise and distractions, we miss out on seeing that God is all around us.

God is in every person, every tree, and even the air we breathe. The Book of Genesis speaks of The Spirit of God hovering over the water and in the Hebrew this is referred to as the "ruach" (רוּחַ) or breath. This same spirit breathed into humanity in Genesis 2:7 bringing us into life. Our connection with God runs that DEEP.

So if we already have this deep connection that exists between us the God of the Universe, why can't we find God so easily in everyday life?

The number 1 culprit is: Distraction

When was the last time you took a moment to walk outside and just breathe in the air? Stare at the clouds? Run your hand over blades of grass just for the sensory touch? It has probably been a while. For me as a Florida native, walking outside means dealing with humidity, mosquitos, heat, and all sorts of noises and sounds that make me cringe thinking about. Its aggressive, combative, and just plain ol distracting most of the time, it feels IMPOSSIBLE to connect with God under such conditions.

It's not just physical distractions like humidity or snow or bustling cars on a city street. Its notifications on your phone, its calendars to monitor, its business calls, its babies screaming, its sitting in traffic on the highway at 9:15AM wishing things would just go faster.

Our world is Distraction after Distraction after Distraction. The way it seems now, you would think it was designed this way! The truth is, it wasn't always like this. God created a perfect world for us, and one distraction from the enemy turned into a curiosity that plunged us into the imperfect world we live in now with the first bite of the forbidden fruit from the Garden of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

I bet your wondering what the cure for this distraction is huh? What does the Bible teach us about distraction? How can I live in more awareness of the God that is all around me and stop playing Candy Crush or checking my TikTok Notifications every five minutes?

The First Step is to: Slow Down

To slow down means to take away the control the world has on you and bring your focus back to God. To know God we need to be STILL, as it tells us in the Psalms. Stillness does not mean emptiness, nor does it mean a lack of awareness to your surroundings. This is not an Eastern Buddhist meditation technique, however it can be seen as similar due to the nature in which modern society views stillness.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."

Instead the stillness we are called to have is one of slow, intentional awareness of God and God's presence. When we are "still" meaning: lack of movement, calm, and silence, and we place those physical faculties onto awareness of God, something phenomenal happens. We connect with the Spirit, we REST in the Spirit of God, and our own spirit is lifted up as a consequence. In the version of The Holy Bible known as "The Message" there is a great quote from our Lord Jesus Christ that speaks to this REAL REST that comes from this distraction-less resting state held in communion with God.

The MSG: Matthew 11:28-30 "I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."

The unforced rhythms of grace is simply a fancy way of saying our natural unrestricted access to the flow of God's love and forgiveness and passions. That is the TRUE nature of our world, one which the enemy has shifted from the beginning into something unnatural in the form of self interests, distractions, and evil.

Eliminate Hurry and Distraction

There is an amazing piece of Christian literature know as The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. John Mark Comer was a Pastor at a large mega-church when he realized the hustle and bustle and distractions were not putting him or his family in line with the true rhythm of a Godly life. Long story short he left the mega church and brought is life back to the basics preaching at a much smaller church and slowing down his family and their lifestyle. Distractions were eliminated, hurry was slowed to a crawl, and he was able to rest more in the presence of God. Its a beautiful story and no doubt one we would all love to live and one we all are capable of doing with the right mindset and circumstance.

If you want to find God in a world of distractions, you will need to ELIMINATE the distractions, ELIMINATE the hurry, slow your life down to a level that is going to feel uncomfortable and even straight up wrong. Other people are going to look at you and say, "What do you mean you took an entire day off for a Sabbath?" "What do you mean it was just you and your family eating, laughing, praying, reading scripture, and not doing any work? You must be crazy!"

Culture is going to tell you this is wrong, that you are not grinding enough, that your missing out on all the latest trends, or political news, or whatever else people dedicate their time towards in the dizziness of the modern world.

The difference is, your going to take that first step, RIGHT NOW. Your going to take time today to rest in the presence of God, your going to be STILL, your going to slow down, unhurried, unburdened, fully aware of the God that breathed life into you being all around you. Once this happens you will start to crave that feeling, that unforced connection that is always present and the world and its distractions will feel uncomfortable.

Be still my friends, be in the presence of our Father who is in Heaven.

Amen.