Don’t Miss This Devotional
Conquering Life’s Daily Distractions
From a devotional address given to students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, on March 15, 2022. For the full address, visit speeches.byu.edu.
I testify that if you will pause and think about the things you really want to achieve in the future and then begin doing the things that are consistent with that desire every day, you will achieve that desired result.
The last time I was on this floor in the Marriott Center was in 1980. I had been selected to represent the state of Utah in a national high school basketball tournament hosted by BYU. This was a fabulous opportunity for me to play against some of the best high school competition in the country. And it was a gathering place for college scouts to come watch high school seniors play against each other.
I was excited to play, but I was also quite nervous going up against such significant competition. I clearly remember a pivotal game in the tournament. We were playing a team from Los Angeles named the Los Angeles Watts Magicians. Just their team name was intimidating. They were skilled offensively, and they were very intense defensively. Their defensive pressure was like nothing I had ever played against.
The player guarding me would position himself so we were face-to-face—seriously, just inches apart. He also loved to trash talk. The pressure began to get to me as I struggled to shake my opponent enough to even touch the ball. A scramble for a loose ball resulted in a jump ball. Following the call, our coach immediately called a time-out. We gathered in a huddle around our coach to receive his direction. Following the time-out, we returned to the court and lined up around the circle at the foul line for the jump ball. My teammate tipped the ball to me. I immediately made a spin move and rose for a wide-open jump shot. As I released my shot, I heard gasps and laughter coming from the crowd …
I had shot at the wrong basket.
I have thought about that embarrassing moment many times. What happened? Why did I shoot at the wrong basket? It happened because I lost focus during the time-out called by my coach, and I also became so intimidated by the defensive pressure of my opponent and his trash talking that I lost focus on more important things in the game, such as which basket was mine.
This experience has become an important lesson for me. I have learned that I must be careful and not allow myself to become distracted or to lose focus on things that matter most. If we are not careful, we can easily get distracted and divert our energies to less important things. One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to distract us with seemingly good things that keep us from the best things.
A Distraction Doesn’t Have to Be Evil to Be Effective
Distractions and loss of focus can occur for various reasons. Nephi desired to learn the interpretation of the vision of the tree of life shared by his father, Lehi. As Nephi shared the interpretation with his family, he was asked a question: “What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?” (1 Nephi 15:26.)
Nephi responded, “The water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water” (1 Nephi 15:27). Likewise, our minds can get so “swallowed up in other things” that we may miss important details.
The adversary attempts to distract us away from Christ and His covenant path. Elder Ronald A. Rasband taught, “The adversary’s design is to distract us from spiritual witnesses, while the Lord’s desire is to enlighten and engage us in His work.”1
Discouragement often leads to distraction, or a lack of focus. Various distractions may lead to a lack of diligence. In our day, there are many distractions, including Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and busy school and work schedules. Distractions can often be good things. The reality is that a distraction doesn’t have to be evil to be effective.
“Ponder the Path of Thy Feet”
You are at this wonderful time of life when you are making choices and doing things to propel yourself into the future. I ask that you take seriously the counsel found in a beautiful scripture, Proverbs 4:26: “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”
I testify that if you will pause and think about the things you really want to achieve in the future and then begin doing the things that are consistent with that desire every day, you will achieve that desired result.
This probably all makes sense. But why is it so hard for us to do the things necessary for us to become who we want to be and to achieve the things we want to achieve? As mentioned earlier, distractions are a real part of life. Like my experience of being distracted and shooting at the wrong basket, we deal with distractions every day that may cause us to figuratively shoot at the wrong basket.
Our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has given us some timely guidance on how to avoid distractions and how to stay focused on what is most important: He said:
“The voices and pressures of the world are engaging and numerous. But too many voices are deceptive, seductive, and can pull us off the covenant path. To avoid the inevitable heartbreak that follows, I plead with you today to counter the lure of the world by making time for the Lord in your life—each and every day.”2
The Savior has made a similar plea. It came in the form of an invitation. The Savior’s plea is “Come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). As I was contemplating this well-known invitation, I made an amazing discovery. The invitation “come, follow me” has a comma in it. That is significant because that comma results in this invitation really being two invitations. The first invitation is to come to Christ, and the second is to follow Him. We have to come to Him before we can follow Him.
Achieve All That God Wants You to Achieve
We all are faced with defining moments in our lives. Will we do the things on a daily basis that will help us achieve those things we want to achieve? Will we give up those things that keep us from truly coming to the Savior and then following Him?
The Savior’s disciples and followers ultimately had to make a decision regarding the Savior and who He was and if they were going to continue following Him. “Many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66).
As many left, the Savior asked the Twelve this question: “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67.)
Simon Peter’s response gives me courage:
“Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
“And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68–69).
I leave you with an invitation to ponder the direction of your life. Determine if you are doing the things on a daily basis that will truly lead you to where you want to go or who you want to become. Determine what distractions you need to give up to truly come to the Savior and to follow Him. Then do those things, and I testify that as you do them daily, you will achieve all that God wants you to achieve.