Pastor Jerry Sweat of Beach Church in Jacksonville, Fl has a powerful saying: “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”
I wholeheartedly agree with Pastor Sweat. He succinctly captures what I discussed in my previous post, “Are you chasing your tail?” – where I explore the devil’s primary and secondary goals.
The devil’s primary goal is to get us to embrace evil (what Pastor Sweat calls “bad”). He wants us to be like the unrepentant thief on the cross who rejected Jesus. If we completely reject God, the devil wins.
But if Satan fails to separate us from God eternally, his next strategy is to keep us preoccupied and distracted. Why? Because God has designed each of us with a distinct purpose, calling us to live productive and impactful lives for His glory. If the devil cannot prevent us from gaining heaven, he will exhaust every effort to stop us from fulfilling that calling and bearing the spiritual fruit God intends for us.
How many of us have fallen into this trap?
- Been “busy” providing for our families—at the expense of truly being present with them?
- Spent countless hours perfecting sports or hobbies that steal precious time from loved ones?
- Poured all our energy into our children while neglecting quality time with our spouse?
- Used our parents as “free” babysitters but failed to honor them with our own time and attention?
- Wasted hours defending favorite politicians on social media instead of investing in our marriage?
- Forgotten to carve out even a few minutes for God each day?
- Simply been… too busy?
Frank’s Regret
Frank was a moderately successful entrepreneur and an excellent provider. He built a beautiful home in an affluent neighborhood and sent his son to the best private schools he could afford.
Frank would boast that although he spent many hours working, he was one of the few dads that made the time to attend all of his son’s sporting events, including travel league across town and out-of-state tournaments. Frank spent time helping his son with drills to excel at his sport. He even paid for special fitness instructors to help his son be in his best shape.
Frank sounds like a pretty good dad, right?
Frank doesn’t think so.
Looking back, he realizes that beyond the focused drills, his real one-on-one time with his son was mostly limited to car rides to and from events. Frank spent more time having meaningful talks with the dads of his son’s teammates than he did with his own son. The one-on-one father son talks were few and far between with all his son’s sporting events taking up the calendar. Important talks about life —and especially about God—were rare. Aside from Sunday services, faith wasn’t a regular part of their lives.
“We were just too busy with the sports stuff,” Frank says now. He wishes his son hadn’t been quite so gifted athletically. Maybe then they would have gone on more camping trips, fishing outings, or relaxed rounds of golf. Maybe they would have built a closer relationship. And most importantly—maybe his son would have developed a strong relationship with the Lord.
That’s Frank’s biggest regret.
If the devil can’t make you bad, he will make you busy!
This world is filled with distractions to keep us busy! Even the most well-intentioned people fall into the trap of believing “busy” equals “good.” How do we keep from falling into that trap?
God the Father gave us God the Son. God the Son,
gave us God the Holy Spirit.
Make the effort to turn toward Him and be filled with His light. His Holy Spirit will bless you with the discernment to see what truly matters in this world. When you choose to live in alignment with His will, the devil will flee from you (James 4:7).
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