The Detractor

One of the classes we are doing in home schooling our 8 year old Gracie is called Critical Thinking. It teaches logic in solving problems and equations. I was never a master test taker, so it's been quite the challenge for me to help her.

When doing Critical Thinking, one thing we're learning is there are numbers or words put into the problem which are designed to be detractors. They have absolutely nothing to do with obtaining the right answer and are set to get you off course. If you don't know what the detractor is, sometimes you can think it's important to solving the equation only to realize it leads you to the incorrect conclusion. Other numbers or words are pertinent to the answer. As a critical thinker, you have to determine which are important to solving the problem and which are not.

When you know in your heart God is telling you to work on a particular area of your life or to move forward with the commission He's given you, there are detractors along the way. I share some of the detractors--problems and those who gave me problems--in my first book "Forecasts & Faith: 5 Keys to Weathering the Storms of Life".

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

There have been many occasions in my own life when the detractors have come in the form of people, negativity, circumstances and even trials. Instead of focusing on them and allowing them to get you off course, stay focused on God. He knows how to solve the problem and how to get the right answer the first time!