And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. – 1 Corinthians 7:35There are so many great things that come with the single life. One of the greatest of all is to live a life in undivided devotion to the Lord. In this place, our minds are clear of worry, we are sure of our purpose, and are actively pursuing it. We are the most hopeful in this place, and there is lots of joy.
Satan’s main goal for the single believer is to distract us from this place of total devotion and attention toward the Lord. I looked up the phrase attend upon the Lord without distraction in the Greek.
It’s definition mentions, “without distraction, without solicitude, anxiety, or care.”
Solicitude: “a: the state of being concerned and anxious b: attentive care and protectiveness; also: an attitude of earnest concern or attention (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.)
Have you ever experienced anxiety as a single believer? Have you ever experienced a very distracting concern that seemed to overshadow your joy, peace, and hope?
Satan desires to put us in a position where we take our eyes off of Jesus and replace them with circumstances. One of the common ways that he does this is through offence.
You see, there are certain benefits that come with undivided attention upon God. Things like: Affirmation of our identity, vision, the direction and revelation of the Lord in a manner of clarity. It makes us sharper, better, and whole.
Offense on the other hand causes us to stumble and fall.
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.. – Matthew 18:9
Offend in the Greek means “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaphorically to offend. To entice to sin. To cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey. To cause to fall away. To be offended in one etc. (Strong’s Lite Dictionary)”
Offence often works in those closest to us. The seeds are planted, and if we do not deal with them; they can lead us to doubt, viewing ourselves the wrong way, viewing God the wrong way, and disobedience.
Jesus in scripture opened up to those close to him—his disciples. He shared with them some of the things that he would have to suffer. Peter, then rebuked Jesus sharply exclaiming that he did not have to go through. At that moment, Jesus chose to deal with it telling Peter to get behind him and referencing Peter’s words as those coming from Satan. He told Peter that he cared for the things of man, and not the plan of God (Matthew 16:21-24).
Like Jesus’ experience with those close to him; we at times can experience those close to us such as friends, and family, who do not understand the higher calling on our lives to be joyful singles who are whole in Christ.
They view our singleness as suffering alone and state that we do not have to go through it. If only we lowered our standards a bit, we’d be delivered out of our poor state. Like Jesus, we may have to deal with this plainly stating how hurtful this can be in hopes of eliminating this as a distraction from our complete devotion to the Lord.
Recently, I had to address this in my own family. In doing so, I have been able to close the door to any wondering about things spoken against me that would cause me to stumble. Often, our families mean well, but do not understand that they may be being used by the enemy to cause us to stumble. Ask God to give you wisdom concerning any and all distractions that would keep you from focusing totally on him as the leader of your life.
Finally, for balance sake, make sure that what you are standing on is truly God. We will know this by his word. God’s standard for our lives is found in his word.
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