‘I’m Too Distracted When I Read’

This morning, as I opened my Bible to Luke 10, I wanted to hear from Jesus. But I also wanted to know the score of a World Cup game. And I wanted to plan the day’s work. And I wanted to develop an idea about fatherhood. And I wanted to start writing this article. And . . . And . . .

Some mornings, I find myself staring into nowhere with my Bible open, thoughts flying through my mind like too many birds in a cage. I catch myself. How long have I been like this? Two minutes? Five minutes? Help me, Lord.

I want to sit at Jesus’s feet and let the wild world pass by. But I also know what it feels like for the wild world to pass into me and scatter my attention. On those mornings, I close my Bible with a sigh and wonder what peace and joy I just left behind.

Distraction, I’m learning, is a stubborn foe. Few are the mornings when focus comes easily. Most of the time, I have to look at the many tasks, many ideas, many amusements, and many demands that call my name and strain to hear the better voice above them: “Scott, Scott, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary” (see Luke 10:41–42).

For you who love the voice of Jesus yet too often fail to hear him, I invite you to consider a truth, a plan, a prayer, and a treasure.

Truth

First, the hard truth: If you let it, distraction will steal what’s best from your soul.

Do you remember how often Jesus told his hearers to hear, really hear? “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). “Pay attention to what you hear” (Mark 4:24). “Hear me, all of you, and understand” (Mark 7:14). “Do you not hear?” (Mark 8:18).

Why repeat the point so often? Because unless we hear, really hear, birds will come and snatch the gospel from our hearts, or thorns will grow up and choke it (Mark 4:15, 18–19). God’s word, once received, does not remain in the heart without care. Either we “hold it fast” through diligent, believing attention (Luke 8:15), or we lose it.

But the hard truth comes with a hopeful truth: If you let it, attention will bring what’s best to your soul. When the residents of Samaria “paid attention to what was being said by Philip,” great rejoicing followed (Acts 8:6, 8). When Lydia “[paid] attention to what was said by Paul,” a river became a baptismal (Acts 16:14–15). And when we pay attention to Scripture, God gives and gives and gives.

In Bible reading, attention is a net for catching joys, a setting to hold precious jewels, a hand that takes hold of Christ’s garment, a basket for the bread of life, an Emmaus Road where we meet our Lord, a throne that welcomes his kingship.

“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it,” God told his people of old (Psalm 81:10). And so he says to us each morning: “I have peace for your trouble, wisdom for your confusion, a way back from your wandering. Just open your attention wide, my child, and I will fill it.”

Plan

Attention is God’s gift, yet it is also our act. So we plan. Like the psalmist, we use the language of “I will”: “I will meditate on your precepts”; “I will lift up my hands toward your commandments”; “I will never forget your precepts” (Psalm 119:15, 48, 93). Yes, by God’s help, I will.

We generally meet two kinds of distractions during Bible reading: the trivial and the troubling. Trivial distractions include the news, email, and how many people liked your last Instagram post. Troubling distractions include relational conflicts, difficulties at work, and tasks you’re in danger of forgetting. Two kinds of plans help to keep these distractions at bay.

“Either we hold God’s word fast through diligent, believing attention, or we lose it.”

First, plan to keep away trivial distractions. Imagine you could push a button to give your brain a little dose of pleasure. Such a button would no doubt prove distracting as you read your Bible. But it would matter a great deal, would it not, if the button were on the table next to you or if it were upstairs in your closet.

Your phone is that button. And it matters a great deal to your Bible reading whether it lies within arm’s reach or whether you have to walk across the room or climb a flight of stairs to get it. If something besides your phone proves just as distracting, apply the same principle: Keep trivial things far from your Bible.

Second, plan to catch troubling distractions. Some thoughts prove so powerful that we cannot move on unless we somehow address them. But how can we address them without getting carried away by them? I find it helpful to keep a little notebook and pen nearby as a cage for catching distractions. Writing down an idea or a task doesn’t resolve it, but doing so at least assures me the thought won’t get lost.

Deeper troubles usually resist capture by writing. So, when we feel distracted by heart wounds and griefs, offenses and regrets, we would be wise to turn our mental processing into prayer. Pour out your troubles. Name your sorrows. Let your God keep them in his all-caring hands. Then return to his voice in Scripture.

Prayer

Attention is our act, yet it is chiefly God’s gift. So we not only plan but pray. Like the psalmist, we use the language of not only “I will” but “please help”: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law”; “Incline my heart to your testimonies”; “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things” (Psalm 119:18, 36–37). By prayer, the pages of Scripture become gilded with wonder.

In the chapter before Jesus entered Mary and Martha’s house, he climbed a mountain with Peter, James, and John. “And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white” (Luke 9:29). Jesus, the carpenter’s son from Nazareth, was transfigured before them. The disciples saw his glory. And not one of them was distracted.

When this same Lord entered the sisters’ home, surely Mary sat at Jesus’s feet undistracted because she caught a glimpse of his dazzling glory. The eyes of her heart saw one who shone like the sun; the ears of her soul heard the echo of the Father’s voice, saying, “Listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). So Mary obeyed. She “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened” (Luke 10:39).

By prayer, we sit at Jesus’s feet and see him as Mary saw him. On some remarkable mornings, with our Bible open, the kitchen table turns into a Mount of Transfiguration. The living room becomes hallowed ground. We climb up to a place where distractions dare not approach.

Of course, God can answer our prayers for attention without giving us a mountaintop experience, one that leaves us dumbstruck before him. Most of the time, probably, we’ll simply feel that we have a calmer mind and a softer heart. We’ll find ourselves more able to drive away distractions and more ready to respond to God’s word.

But only if we pray. So what if, each morning before reading your Bible, you took a verse from Psalm 119 (or some other part of Scripture) and turned it into a prayer for attention?

Treasure

Whenever we read the Bible with a measure of attention, we walk away holding a treasure, a word better than silver and gold (Psalm 119:72). And our task now is to hold onto it:

My son, be attentive to my words;
     incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
     keep them within your heart. (Proverbs 4:20–21)

God speaks to us in his word not just to meet us in the moment but to supply us for the hours ahead. By his word, he readies us to resist temptation, endure discomfort, walk in good works, and keep him always before us. His word is treasure for today.

Sometimes, I live like a man with holes in his pockets who loses his treasure by mid-morning. But what if you and I were to heed the voice of wisdom and let Scripture not escape from our sight? What if we became not just increasingly attentive readers of God’s words but also increasingly attentive stewards of them? We could write one verse from our reading on a notecard, or return to the passage briefly after lunch, or text a friend to share something we saw, or let this part of Scripture shape our mealtime prayers — or take a hundred other steps to treat God’s words like treasure.

The distractions of the day will still come, many of them threatening to dominate our attention. But then we put our hands in our pockets and feel the gold again. We turn our thoughts to the Bible and remember our God again. And all through the day, we return to that good and better portion (Luke 10:42).