It’s currently quite noisy in our house. the vacuum cleaner is being navigated around, the washing machine is on a spin cycle and the tumble dryer is, erm, tumbling. I am trying to concentrate on some reading and writing (including this bloggage) and am finding the extraneous aural invasions are somewhat distracting. I can’t hear myself think.

[ASIDE: Of course nobody can hear themselves thinking – and I think that is probably a good thing: imagine the cacophony going on inside your head as all of the different thoughts shout for attention!]

It’s very easy to get distracted. One minute you can be writing a bloggage and the next min… ooh I fancy a cup of coffee. Or you can be reading your Bible and sudden… “I wonder what we should have for tea?” Praying seems to be the worst: “Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be Thy… what’s the name of that bloke in that TV show with the thing and the thing… Forever and ever, Amen.”

Sometimes distracting thoughts like that are a sign that we need to pause, to give God space and time. Sometimes they are a sign that we are too busy and need to slow down. Sometimes they might actually be God trying to get our attention. And sometimes I reckon they might give us new ways to reflect:

A desire for a cup of coffee might be an indication that you are thirsty, but you can also use it to consider how fairly traded you are, pray for those who produce the coffee (or tea), reflect on the privilege of having clean running water from a tap, pray for those who have to walk miles for water, reflect on Jesus saying that his water results in springs of living water welling up to eternal life…

“What should we have for tea?” can be turned into a prayer of thanks for the food we have, and a desire that we might serve others with food that is nutritious, nourishing and nommy. It might lead to a thought about the 5000 strong picnic and God’s amazing provision. Or it can take you to reflect on world hunger and the ‘Enough food IF‘ campaign.

“What’s the name of that bloke in the TV show with the thing and the thing” can be turned into a prayer of thanks for entertainment, prayer for those who work within the entertainment industry and often get neglected from our praying, and prayer for those who do not have the privileged lifestyle we have and who spend their whole waking life working.

I am not recommending that we spend our whole time wandering off following distractions. But when they happen, we can either find them irritating or we can ask God to speak through them.

So thank you Lord for the household appliances that are making so much noise. Thank you for how much easier they make our life, and help me never to take that for granted. Be with those who have to do all these things by hand, who would long to have the opportunity to be distracted by machines like that.

Be blessed, be a blessing