For Good or For God: When Good Things Become a Distraction

Today I had to wrestle with a question that I really didn't want to answer:

Are you doing what God is calling you to do, or are you busy doing "good" things that are keeping you from doing what God has called you to do?

What a difficult question.

Because when I look at the things I spend my time doing, most of them are good things. They're things that help people. They're things that matter.

But today I realized something important:

Good does not automatically mean God.

After I experienced restoration in my relationship with God, I dove into His Word. I studied diligently and asked Him to direct my steps.

And He did.

He led me to ZOE Japan. He opened my circle of friends to include other believers who were also doing Kingdom work. He began making my calling increasingly clear.

And then somewhere along the way, I shifted into autopilot.

I stopped asking God whether I should do something and started making the decision myself.

"Is it good?"

If the answer was yes, I did it.

But that isn't the same thing as asking:

"God, is this what You want me to do?"

The Danger of Doing g

Good Things

I think we often assume that distraction has to look like temptation.

We imagine the enemy trying to get us to do something obviously sinful.

But what if distraction can sometimes look like something good?

What if something can be worthwhile, helpful, compassionate and even Kingdom-minded—and still not be what God has called you to do?

That's what struck me today.

The enemy doesn't necessarily have to convince us to do something terrible.

Sometimes all he has to do is keep us busy.

Busy enough that we don't have time to listen.

Busy enough that we stop asking God for direction.

Busy enough that we slowly move away from the assignment He actually gave us.

The danger is that we may not even notice.

The distance can begin as something tiny—a single "yes" that God never asked us to give.

Then another.

And another.

Eventually, we can look up and realize we're spending enormous amounts of time doing things that are good, while neglecting the very thing God called us to do.

And the good news?

God is still there.

Even when we've wandered, He isn't far away.

So I Went to Scripture

I read John 7 today as part of my normal daily Bible reading. Then I searched specifically for Scripture related to calling, doing good, helping the oppressed, and staying focused on what God has given us to do.

The verses I came across were remarkably specific:

• John 7: Jesus demonstrates that His timing and actions are governed by the Father's will rather than the expectations of the people around Him.

• Micah 6:8 : He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

• Proverbs 31:8-9: Open your mouth for the mute,
      for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

• Isaiah 1:17: learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

• Isaiah 58:6-7: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house;
  when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

• Matthew 6:33-34: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

• Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

• Mark 16:15: And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

And as I looked at those passages together, I felt like the direction for me became very clear.

My Calling

I've known for a while that God called me toward human trafficking and child exploitation.

My work is about fighting bondage and exploitation, protecting vulnerable people, and bringing the hope of the Gospel to people who are vulnerable and oppressed.

And suddenly I realized:

If I know what God has called me to do, I have to protect that calling from distraction.

That means there are things I may need to say no to.

Prison ministry.

Immigration ministry.

Missions opportunities that aren't connected to this particular calling.

Other good things that people ask me to become involved in.

None of those things are necessarily bad.

In fact, they may be wonderful ministries.

But they don't have to be my ministry.

That's an important distinction.

Something can be God's work without being my work.

God has called other people to those things.

And if I say yes to every good opportunity that comes my way, I may eventually have no time or energy left to do the thing He specifically asked me to do.

My Action Step

So I'm making a change.

I'm not going to automatically say yes anymore.

When someone asks me to become involved in something, I'm going to stop and pray.

Instead of immediately saying yes, I'll say:

"Let me pray about that."

And sometimes the answer may simply be:

"No, I can't do that."

That's going to be difficult for me.

But I think it will get easier when I stop seeing "no" as rejecting something good and start seeing it as protecting the assignment God has given me.

There are many good things that need to be done.

But God doesn't need me to do all of them.

My job is to be obedient to the things He has actually called me to do.

And maybe that's a question worth sitting with today:

Are you doing what God has called you to do, or are you so busy doing good things that you've become distracted from God's assignment for your life?

Don't answer too quickly.

Sit with it.

Pray about it.

And then ask God:

"Lord, what have You actually called me to do, and what am I doing simply because I haven't stopped to ask?"

Sometimes obedience doesn't mean saying yes to one more thing.

Sometimes obedience means finally learning how to say no.