Today was a day of distractions. You ever have one of those? Some days, you just have things that make it hard to focus. Unless you’re a hermit – you know what I mean. It seems like every time I got ready to focus on a task today – trying to solve that problem at work, or trying to explain running cadence to kids at Cross-Country practice, or even trying to sit and write this article – I heard, “Hey Joe!” Or, “but coach!” Or, “Dad?”
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining. Not at all. In the grand scheme of things, they’re not distractions. I got to help my wife brainstorm on some content for a Mom’s program she is co-coordinating at our parish. I got to help kids learn to love running and have fun with it. And I got to pray with my son before bedtime. These things are actually priceless moments. But often we have tunnel vision and we don’t see the bigger picture. And we get frustrated when something doesn’t go our way.
The work problem will be there tomorrow. I can cover more on running cadence at next practice. And I have plenty of time to write this article. I just need to regroup, be persistent and come back to it. Look at the big picture, keep everything in perspective, and be persistent.
Be persistent. There it is again. That word – persistence. To continue in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. To endure over a prolonged period. Steadiness.
I love that word. It comes up so often in Scripture. Everything I’ve ever done that has been worthwhile in life, all that is good – has taken persistence. Whether it be dealing with a day of distractions, my career, running a marathon, getting out of financial debt, marriage, fatherhood, and of course my spiritual life – it all takes persistence. And built into the meaning of that word is regroup, because sometimes you just need to regroup, hit the rest button and try again. Every day. Many moments within the day. That’s part of being persistent at anything.
Any time I get down, or feel that the world is against me, I think of waves lapping against a shore. Some have more force than others. Sometimes their energy is weak, while at other times the energy of the waves can change the shoreline. Sometimes they regroup and build up energy and swell to the shore with greater power. The waves are persistent no matter what.
But the point is, they don’t stop. We need to be persistent in our lives, just like the waves. This is nowhere more important than in our spiritual life.
Every day, God gives us moments to reflect, regroup, and look to where we can improve for tomorrow. But in this busy world, we’re often distracted. Things get in the way, we feel we have no time and we’re trying to simply make ends meet. We get so caught up in life, that we fail to take this time to listen to God. We fail to spend time with Him, and grow that relationship. We get distracted.
Life flares up and it’s like we’re constantly putting out fires. We’re always going to have these distractions. If we don’t have a strong prayer life, it’s easy to lose focus on the critical task at hand – growing our faith, and getting ourselves and those around us to Heaven. If we instead focus on the distractions – moving forward in our faith, staying the course with God’s will, whatever that may be, suddenly comes to a halt. Instead of letting the distraction come and go, and regrouping and starting anew – we often stop. We lose focus. We become idle.
God makes it clear today in the readings. He speaks through St. Paul’s letter to Timothy that All Scripture is inspired by God. All of it is useful for teaching – for correcting us and helping us to regroup. He challenges us to be persistent disciples and proclaim His Word. Be persistent, even if it’s inconvenient.
Jesus builds on that. He tells us that God will answer our prayers – if we keep praying. We’ve got to be like the persistent widow, knocking on His door. No will it always be the answer we want? no – Jesus doesn’t say that. But God will answer in what way is best. We’ve just got to be persistent, and patient.
And then there’s Moses and the Israelites in the reading from Exodus today. Israel is fighting another tribe – Amalek. When Moses raises his hands, Israel is winning the battle. When he lowers his hands, they start losing. Finally, Aaron and Hur help Moses keep his hands raised and Israel wins the battle.
How does this story fit with the other readings? God is there for us, He’s there to help us. When we’re persistent in prayer, if we pray sincerely, intently read scripture, especially the daily readings for Mass, and show a devotion to Him – He will answer our prayers. He will help us in the fight. Again, it may not be the answer we’re expecting, but it is what’s best. It will be an answer. The right answer.
We might just find that life goes a little better. We might just find it’s a little easier to navigate those distractions in life and stay focused, and regroup when necessary.
But when we lower our hands, we start to lose the battle. Our lives get a little crazier and irregular, and those little distractions become a bigger and disrupt our focus on God, and we may miss the answers He provides.
Sometimes we get tired though, just like Moses. Sometimes we let our prayer life slip a little, we get down, and we focus on the distractions around us. When life gets tough, when distractions come your way, when the challenges seem insurmountable and you feel you can’t win – raise your hands in prayer. Accept them, let them come and go. Regroup, renew, and start again. Do this over and over. Just like the waves lapping against the shore. Sometimes we won’t have as much energy, but we can always do a little. Build a routine of prayer – every day throughout the day.
Be persistent in this, and He will persist in you.
EX 17:8-13; PS 121; 2 TM 3:14-4:2; LK 18:1-8
