Poetry From The Heart

Distractions

Distractions. Distractions. Distractions.

So many things Satan uses against me;

Both my hurts, and my satisfactions.

I seek, I crawl, I run, I pant,

All just to get a clear view of God’s face.

But Satan in his hatred causes me to stumble

On distractions that are so cleverly placed.

Never have I been so grateful

For my Lord’s unending grace.

For all too often distractions trips me up,

Slowing down my persistent pace.

The devil is rather cunning,

Prowling around in hidden space,

Hoping his schemes will allow for the pounce

That’ll take me out of this race. 

How I wish to better foresee his conspiracies,

For it seems to them I am completely blind.

I run along the narrow road

forgetting that he prowls close behind.

Forgetting that he’s watching

And planning destruction of every kind. 

Yet even when I watch out for him,

Even when I peek around every turn,

He still possesses a point of view

That I have yet to learn.

His visibility of my flesh is precise,

He knows how to trap and burn.

But as for me I am naïve to my flesh,

I simply act instead of discern.

Too often I trust in my own understanding

Rather than questioning whether it’s really true.

I yield to my inclinations and feelings

Not realizing that it leads me away from You.

It leads me away from Your perfect will,

Preventing me from being made new. 

The devices Satan uses are crafty,

They are hidden from plain view.

For all too often the distractions he creates

Are my very own thoughts passing through.

And now it seems I’m my own worst enemy,

I cannot even trust myself.

For all the things that I tend to crave

Are all toxic to the Spirit’s health.

Though the desires within me were given by God,

Satan uses them to glorify himself,

Desiring that by them I become distracted

And in the process put God on the shelf.

Since to these things I am often unaware,

All I can do is pray for clarity.

Pray for God to open my eyes

To the ways that Satan might trap me. 

Pray for me to see his schemes

And fight against them actively.

I know even when Satan trips me up,

God will set me back on steady ground.

He will always reveal his path to me

When it seems only distractions surround.

Though my flesh will always fail

I will hold on to the truth that I’ve found;

That it is God’s grace and not my performance

That makes me Heavenly bound.