Craig Clouston

 Spiritual ADD

[Aaron] took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

Exodus 32:4

Nick was just like every other kid in his class: high energy, fun loving, even a bit of a prankster. Nick had recently been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. His attention span was much shorter than his peers due to what his neurologists called a short circuit in his brain’s hard wiring. This short created an inability to tune out outside stimuli.

Nick’s parents knew his actions weren’t just a ploy to avoid homework or chores because they’d observed the same distracted behavior on the baseball field.

Nick played second base. At any given moment, you might catch him looking around the outfield while the pitcher was in his windup. Or he’d be drawing pictures in the dirt when he should have been chanting, “Hey, batter, batter, batter.”

It was difficult for Nick to concentrate on his lessons for more than ten minutes at a time; there were just too many things vying for his attention. His parents and teachers were instructed to be patient and allow for his inattentiveness. They were told that long-suffering persistence would eventually help Nick overcome his inability to focus for extended periods of time. Nick learned coping strategies that helped fend off the unwanted interference, helping him direct his focus on things at hand.

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Israel had a severe case of spiritual ADD. Although God was constantly with them, they were unable to focus on Him for more than a few days at a time. The miracles He had done on their behalf were forgotten, and they went right back to complaining. It cost them forty years in a desolate land.

But before we judge the Israelites too harshly, we should admit that we don’t retain the goodness of God any longer than they did. We, like Israel, get distracted by the enemy. We gripe and complain about our circumstances and God’s failure to meet our needs.

Like Nick, we need to develop coping strategies to tune out unwanted influence. By listening to God’s instruction, we can shorten our time in the wilderness.

Prayer

“Thank You, loving Father, for putting up with my impatient behavior. Help me shut out the world’s interference so I can focus my attention where it needs to be. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”