When Distraction Becomes the Devil’s Strategy

• By candidasullivan
• October 18, 2025
• No Comments

Why do we stop doing the things we know that we need to do?

Distraction is my weakness. The enemy uses it to get me off track. He doesn’t have to destroy my faith; he just has to keep me too busy to live it.

He doesn’t tell me to quit doing the important things; he makes me too busy to do them. When I’m distracted and giving all of my time and attention to other things, I neglect what my soul needs.

1 Peter 5:8 KJV
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

The enemy doesn’t always attack us head-on. Sometimes he whispers through notifications, endless scrolling, and overcommitment—slowly pulling us away from what truly matters. While the distractions can seem harmless, they are strategic and purposeful. The enemy’s goal is to get us to destroy ourselves.

He hijacks our days with his agenda. If he can get us numbing ourselves in some way, he will cause harm to us. It might not show up right away, but if we continue doing those things, it will eventually show up in significant ways.

This is how it often happens—not in a single moment, but in small choices that drift us off course.

I was working out six days a week, and I felt great. Then something happened to distract me. I missed one workout, then a week. Now, it’s been almost a year since I worked out regularly, and I can feel it in my body. I never meant to stop. I just got distracted and stressed, and I stopped prioritizing what was important to me.

Romans 7:15 KJV
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

It’s frustrating when we know what’s right but still fall short—and that’s exactly where grace meets us. It’s not just laziness or procrastination, but a spiritual attack. The enemy wants to destroy us. When we can see his tricks and schemes, we can pray and fight against them. God will reveal the enemy to us in our lives if we are willing to see and accept it.

I wish I had a checklist to share and a battle plan to defeat the enemy, but I don’t. All I know is for us to watch and pray.

Matthew 26:41 KJV
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

My flesh is so weak. It falls for everything. But my God is strong. When I pray for guidance and strength, God shows up. Instead of being swept up in the distraction, if I stop and pray, God will help me.

Every time I do the thing I know I need to do, I defeat the enemy. When I pray in the chaos instead of succumbing to it, I defeat the enemy. When I lift the weights instead of wasting my time, I win.

Holding myself accountable in a notebook also helps. If I sit down with the Lord each morning and make a to-do list, it helps me to stay on track.

Sweet friends, I want to finish this year strong. I feel like I blinked and it’s already October. While I’m not too happy with how I’ve lived the first three quarters of this year, I want to give the last one everything I have.
I want to stop making excuses to myself and the Lord and show up for my life with love and appreciation.

Distraction may be the enemy’s weapon, but focus is our warfare. Each time we pray instead of panic, serve instead of scroll, or worship instead of worry, we claim victory.

We only get this one life. Therefore, we need to decide how we want to live it. I don’t want to live so distracted that I end up wasting it.

I want to live with love, joy, and peace. And when I close my eyes in death, I want to know that I lived intentionally, loved deeply, and made a difference.