Last night I went for a run. I knew exactly how far I wanted to go and I had picked out a One Prayer message to listen to on my iPod. I had a plan and I was focused.

With a pretty quick pace I was headed down the road until I realized a horsefly was buzzing around my head. A few casual flicks turned in to an all out assault on this pesky insect. My pace slowed and my focus on the One Prayer message was almost non-existent.

I continued on with the horsefly circling me and my arms swinging wildly around my head. I am sure anyone driving by had a good laugh. My level of distraction was high and all I could think about was keeping that stupid horsefly from biting me.

After about 10 minutes I slowly settled back in to a good pace, got back on track with my iPod and felt focused again. By the end of my run I realized the horsefly was gone and not once had I been bitten.

Sometimes our lives can be like my run. We start out with a plan and good focus but can easily be distracted by “horseflies”. We let distractions dictate what we do and before we know it our focus is gone.

I am learning to stop and take inventory of what I am doing. Is my life filled with Christ centered activity or am I distracted with a bunch of horseflies? More often than not I find the horseflies win, that’s not good.

I need to ignore the distractions and let God handle them. That will free me up to do what I need to do, what pleases God, Kingdom work.

1 Kings 11:38 If you listen to what I tell you and live the way I show you and do what pleases me, following directions and obeying orders as my servant David did, I’ll stick with you no matter what. I’ll build you a kingdom as solid as the one I built for David. Israel will be yours! (The Message)