5 Things That Can Cause You to Drift Away

Are you aware of how many things are fighting for your attention these days? Most of us walk around with the biggest attention grabber of all time – the smartphone. I recently took the train into the city. Because I live in the suburbs and work from home, I don’t commute to work. As I was on the train, I purposely turned off my phone so I could enjoy the ride, and I happened to casually look around at the people on the train. Just about every single one had their eyes glued to their phone. They were not paying attention to what was going on around them. There was little to no interaction, and it was as if every person was in their own personal bubble. I am sure you can relate.

What’s fascinating about our phones is even if you aren’t looking at them, they still have a way of getting your attention and reminding you that you need to focus on them. We call these notifications. Have you ever realized how difficult it is to concentrate once you hear a notification go off on your phone? Your brain begins to wonder who is reaching out to me and what is going on. In some cases, your anxiety increases as you think about what you could be missing.

These are all distractions, and I am only talking about the distraction of your phone. Forget about the distraction of media, politics, sports, entertainment, family, and all the other things that are fighting for your focus. These things are designed to grab your attention. While they are not necessarily bad or sinful, they can still have the same effect and cause you to drift away.

The last item to discuss is disappointment. If you live long enough, you will experience disappointment. It is inevitable. Sometimes as parents we attempt to shield our children from experiencing disappointment, especially if we experienced it ourselves as a child. I don’t know if that is healthy or unhealthy, but I do know we will face disappointment in this life. Maybe it is wiser to allow our children to experience it so they can learn how to deal with it. Because it is inevitable learning how to deal with disappointment will be critical to you not drifting away. We need to face the facts that life will not always go the way you desire.

However, as Christians we must also recognize we have a promise that God will take all the things that happen in our lives and work them for our good. (Rom. 8:28). Nevertheless, this does not prevent the disappointment from occurring. When disappointment sets in, it brings along with it the possibility of drifting and you must guard against this.

I hope you recognize the impact these things can cause in your life and how dangerous they can be. If you dwell in them too long, it will cause you to drift away. However, there are things you can do to protect yourself from drifting. For space’s sake I can’t include those things here, so I encourage you to read 5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Drifting. In the meantime, pay careful attention so you do not drift away.

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Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Holger Leue

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club.  He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.