I was sitting in my den watching TV. I wasn’t at all focused on what I was watching. Suddenly, I stopped looking at the TV and thought to myself, “I would really like to have another Mentoring Minute podcast to share on my website, but there’s nothing in my heart to write about.” Then, it happened in a flash. The Holy Spirit simply said, open your Bible and start looking, until you read what I want you to see. Then, start writing.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV) says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, {17} that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As I picked up my Bible and randomly skipped from one place to another, I soon I found myself moving from the Old Testament into the Book of John. There, I found a hand-written sheet of notes for a sermon I had preached more than five years ago. I stopped. That’s what the Holy Spirit wanted me to see! I looked at it and thought to myself, “It’s a very good thing to record our thoughts when studying the Bible. When we fail to do this, they become like vapors that disappear in the wind. However, if we take the trouble to record them, they are branded in our hearts.” So I stopped and focused on the notes I had written. Then, I zeroed in on the Scriptures they referred to. Unlike mindlessly watching TV, or even what my notes said, this refocus taught me a lesson worth sharing. It’s the idea that if we allow the world’s tempting distractions to captivate and numb us to the point where we cannot hear from God, we will be without His direction, instruction and power. That’s the devil’s goal for all the garbage he puts before our senses.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) says, “No temptation has overtaken you, except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.” Our part in this is to establish the personal discipline to recognize the distraction these temptations offer and reject them. God always makes a way of escape. Draw near to Him, reject what the world offers and watch what He does in you, for you and with you.