Wholehearted Devotion - Faithful Focus in a Distracted Culture

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

“Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O LORD my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” (Psalm 86:11-13, ESV)

My laptop is a bit of a dinosaur, but I am committed to using it until the screen stops working or the keys fall off. One of the many downsides to being a writer with an older laptop is that, when too many tabs are open at once, my computer starts to sound like a spaceship humming and buzzing. If my computer could talk, I am certain it would heave heavy sighs and complain about an unfair workload.

While I hate to admit it, my mind often mirrors my ancient laptop—buzzing and humming under the weight of the mental load. At any given moment, my mind is divided between twenty different open tabs and tasks: dinner prep, college applications for my sons, the sports schedule, the upcoming Women’s Bible Study, the next bill that needs to be paid, and the current tragedy of the news cycle.

How can we live whole-hearted lives in such a distracted and bifurcated culture? How can we be fully present when ten tasks and new emergencies present themselves daily? How can we think about God as we are thinking about the good and necessary responsibilities of our earthy lives?

We begin by bringing our distracted hearts into the presence of God and inviting the Holy Spirit to search them. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures and sheds light on our sins (John 16:7-11). He helps God’s children discern what is distracting them from delighting in God. He exposes the grievous or anxious ways in us and leads us in God’s better way (Psalm 139:23-24).

Once the sources of our distraction have been exposed, we are invited to confess our sins and the way we have let our eyes and minds dissipate to lesser lovers. We admit our frantic fear over finances or our anxious toiling over job applications. We confess that our screen time is way up while our prayer time is way down. God is gracious to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Once we have prayerfully dissected our distracted hearts, we join David in praying, “Unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). We ask God’s help in gathering the tendrils of our hearts that are so vine-like in their attachment to things on earth. We invite the scarred hands of Jesus to gather up those tendrils into a heart wholly set on him again. We beg for his help in holding our attention as we step back into the busy demands of the day. We remember that with our God we shall do valiantly, for vain is the salvation of man (Psalm 60:11).

Prayer:

Father, you have loved us with your whole heart. You loved us so much that you sent your Son to die in our place that our hearts might be fully yours through faith. We confess our tendency toward distraction. We admit how scattered our attention and affection become by midmorning. We ask your help in the task of loving you with our whole hearts and minds and bodies and strength. Help us notice when the mental load is driving us from you rather than to you. Speak peace to our worried hearts, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.