I recently completed my “Spring Cleaning 2026” project. It took several days yet I’m happy with the results. Everything is fresh and I even purged items from closets. That’s always a good thing!

I’ve been around long enough to see many spring cleanings but this one was different. In the past, anytime I tackled this large endeavor, my radio was blaring 80s music. It kept me motivated and moving, and it put a big fat smile on my face as I pretended to be a rock star.

But not this year. When I sparked up my playlist, within minutes I turned it off. I even tried to listen to some of my favorite Bible teachers. Nope. Didn’t work.

Silence filled the air as I went from task to task. Without the distractions, I found myself being more intentional about what I was doing. My mind was able to clear through the clutter and even reorganize some spaces for more efficiency.

Today’s culture screams distraction at every turn. It can be challenging to “make the world go away.” Yet if we don’t…if we don’t find some quiet time to just be, we will quickly find that overwhelm and confusion will take over.

There are many things vying for our attention: TV, social media, to name a few. As a Type A personality who prefers movement to rest, my life can easily look like the ball in a pinball machine getting pinged this way and that.

As I was making my way from room to room, sans distractions, I remembered the story of Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34). Here’s a woman who has had an infirmity for twelve years.

Yet one day, she chose not to focus on her illness, to not let it distract her.

She heard Jesus was in town. She left her house, made her way through the crowd to get to Jesus. She was singularly focused on getting to the One Who she knew could heal her.

“When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”” (Mark 5:27 NKJV).

Now Jesus was already on a mission to heal a little girl who was sick. So, this woman’s “distraction” was a potential delay in Jesus’ plan. But instead of “I’m busy, not now dear,” here’s what Jesus said:

““Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”” (Mark 5:34 NKJV).

Boom! Healed and whole! Yet that’s not the end of the story because Jesus also healed the little girl (Mark 5:42). Two miracles in the span of “minutes.”

As you might suspect, Jesus was interrupted a lot during His ministry. When He was teaching, the religious people argued with Him. When He was out and about in the town, people tugged on Him. Some even dropped their friend through a roof for healing (Mark 2:1-12).

Yet, He never turned anyone away. He was filled with compassion and moved by the people’s faith. He was fulfilling His mission, laser focused on His purpose:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18 NKJV)

I want to encourage you today to examine where you may be letting distractions get in the way of fulfilling your goals. Where possible, eliminate as many as you can so you can do all you were called to do.

They say your time is your life. Don’t let distractions steal a minute of it.