How to Focus in the Midst of Distractions (Part 1): Stabilizing Your Emotions

In today’s culture distractions are an inevitable part of our everyday life. We cannot always avoid the things, people and environments that compete for our attention and energy. Anything that competes for our attention can be considered a distraction.

To be completely honest with you, even when you are in the will of God, doing all the right things and in the very place that He has called you to be… distractions will still be present and will be competing diligently for your attention!

Just to take it a little deeper – there will always be a competitor playing on some type of insecurity or desire we have as a means to win our affections and steer us off the clear purpose God has for our time, thoughts and creativity.

So, how can we escape this vicious cycle of competing forces working within and around us, all without causing us to be consumed with useless thoughts and actions that delay our growth and progress?

Here’s the 3-fold system to overcoming distractions:  

1. You must become more emotionally stable.
2. Discipline your thought life.
3. Determine to be steadfast in the purpose God has for your life, even when it makes no sense.

Today, we’ll focus on Part 1 of this 3-Fold System:

You must become more emotionally stable.  

As long as the enemy can prey on our “little girl” insecurities and hang-ups, these areas will continuously be an open door for competitors to intrude on our progress by causing us to wallow in fears, regret, shame, self pity and that tormenting question of, “What if…?” . We will constantly wrestle with our emotional stability until we make peace with the gift of the PRESENT – the here and now.

Embracing the present means that we no longer allow our emotions to wonder into the past for answers or frustrate over a future that is unknown. But daily we simply choose to acknowledge God as the Sovereign Life-Giver who has given us TODAY to embrace and enjoy! He has blessed us with a present reality filled with blessings and truth if only we will open our eyes to see it.

We must learn to rest our emotions in the gift of today and learn to be happy about all that God has brought into our lives in this very season and moment. By doing this we will begin to walk through life as mature and emotionally stable women… Not whisked away by the reality of what we don’t have or things we can’t change – but stable, grounded and rejoicing in all that God has done in us and for us in our present reality.

This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24).

Building emotional stability by learning to live in the present takes practice. Here are a few strategies that you will need to adopt that will assist you in the process.

• Make a daily practice of remembering all the accomplishments and achievements you have made that has contributed to who you are today.
• Despite where you wish to be or hope to be, daily rejoice over how far you come and who you are today.
• Create a thankful and grateful atmosphere in your heart as you daily ponder the blessings that God has given you as your portion.
• Get lost and busy in your portion!
• LEARN TO BE HAPPY FOR YOURSELF.

Once you learn to have stable emotions, you can then transition to the next step of mastering your thought life. Check back later for more tips on overcoming distractions in part 2 of How to Stay Focused in the Midst of Distraction.