“Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God’s approval!…” (Galatians 1:10 GNT)

Have you ever watched squirrels? I know. That’s kinda random isn’t it? But seriously, if you get a chance, do it. They’re comical.

Our neighborhood is full of squirrels. From gathering nuts and chasing each other through the trees, to their balancing tightrope performances on the cable lines in our back yard, these busy, busy creatures are fast on their feet.

But apparently their attention span is a hot second. Which explains why they debut on the popular, Oh look! A squirrel! memes.

This subject is a running joke on my side of the family. Because we sure do have our Oh look! A squirrel! moments. Are we undiagnosed with adult ADHD? Maybe. But maybe not.

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding I have to be very intentional to focus here lately. More and more, I’m asking God to help me tame my inner squirrel.

Do I believe I’ve developed a middle-aged case of ADHD? No. But I think the answer lies within life as we know it today.

We live in the most intense technological age of mankind where most everything is accessible in minutes; if not seconds. The idea is to ease our life, yet I find most people, including me, are fried out and struggling.

We’re exhausted when we hit the pillow, but wake up in the middle of the night panicked about what we forgot to do; or thinking about what we need to do tomorrow.

The world constantly vies for our attention and openly shares its demands.

It says...
Do this, not that.
Eat this, not that.
Look like this, not that.
Think like this, not that.

Read this, check out that, watch this, and listen to that!

Frankly, I’m tired of this and tired of that.

And with each passing year, this toxic way of life seems to scream louder and louder to try and drown out the voice of God.

So when we wire ourselves to this type of thinking, we see our inner squirrel change the gear into overdrive.

And here we are frantically running around trying to gather what we think we need to satisfy our lives; our souls.

We’re chasing after others and the next best thing at record speeds because we feel we need to keep up. (And comparison is an ugly thing)

And day in, day out we’re walking the tightrope of life trying to balance all the madness of work, school, home, family, etc. and live the perfect, ideal life.

But who are we trying to please? People in our world or God?

Satan’s plan is to sabotage anything we do to please God and seek His approval.

This weekend I shared with two fellow writers how I struggle with squirrel brain as I write. And sometimes I do it when I pray and there I am, yet again asking God to help me tame my inner squirrel.

There’s a running list constantly scrolling through my brain of everything I need to do; or should do. I have a watch that tells me when to stand and when I should deep breathe. My reminders on my phone are tapped out with so many things I add to the list throughout the day, I can’t keep up with reminding my reminders.

It’s insane and sometimes I just want to shout, MAKE IT STOP!!!

But I thought the world’s advances were making life easier? And if so, why are we running around like a bunch of no-attention-spanned-squirrels in the back yard trying to complete all these so-called tasks?

Because busyness and distraction are the key players in the enemy’s game to divert our attention away from God.

But God longs for our attention more. He’s designed us with a purpose. He wants us focused and on track with it being in the forefront of our minds.

So how do we tame our inner squirrels so we can give God the attention He deserves?

Through His Holy Spirit.

When my mind starts spiraling out of control I have to purposefully screech on the brakes and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. And here’s something I’ve implemented in just the last year or so.

I try to begin my day by praying this simple, yet powerful prayer…

God, empty me of myself and the world around me and fill me up with Your Holy Spirit.

I want to be full of the Spirit. I don’t want me or the world getting in the way of God’s will for my life. I want to chase down what He wants me to do. And on a morning I may forget to ask this prayer, the balance of my day is completely off.

Friend, I encourage you to start meeting up with God in the heart of this very powerful prayer at the beginning of your day. Envision releasing the chaos and refilling it with God’s power and peace.

This is how we tell God we need Him to lead us throughout our day. Where we ask Him to reveal to us the things in life He wants us to see, not what the world wants us to see.

Our minds are being pursued. They are a spiritual battleground.

And let this tug-of-war struggle we have between the world and God quickly bring us to our knees when we notice it in our lives.

So what are some areas in your life where you need to tame your inner squirrel? I’d love to come alongside you and pray. I’ve shared my battles with you today and I’d love for you to pray for me. Because the struggle is real. So let’s be accountable to one another.

Dear God, we need the sweet balm of Your Holy Spirit to soothe and calm our minds from all that the world demands and shoves at us. It’s a daily battle, but help us fight for our attention and focus. Keep us fixated on Your desires for our life and let what the world says fall on deaf ears. It’s in Jesus name we pray. Amen.