The Ice Cream Strategy
Andrea and I learned early on in parenthood that distraction is a masterful child management tool. If you have ever tried to navigate a public park with a toddler, you will recognise this scene, which has its parallels in the realm of spiritual distraction.
(This is the second instalment of The Devil’s Playbook. If you have not yet read the foundational audit on how the enemy operates, you can read part 1 here.)
Scenario A
Child: “I want an ice cream.”
Mum: “You cannot have one, you have just had a big chocolate pudding. You will be sick.”
Child: “Please? Just one?”
Dad: (Tuning in late) “Er, no. Ice cream makes you… fat?”
Child: “Has Daddy had an ice cream?”
In this scenario, logic is failing. The “target” (the ice cream van) remains firmly in the child’s sights.
Scenario B
Child: “I want an ice cream.”
Mum: “Oh look! There is a slide and some swings!”
Dad: “I wonder how high I can push you on that swing!”
Child: (Eyes shifting) “Swing!”
By the time the child is flying through the air, the ice cream van is a distant memory.
Table of Contents
Distraction Definition:
A distraction is any thing, action, or state that diverts attention away from a primary task, goal, or focus, often resulting in diminished productivity or mental confusion.
In parenting, we use it to steer children away from unhealthy options. But in the spiritual realm, the enemy uses it to steer us away from our destiny.
The Anatomy of a Distraction
There are always two elements involved in this “play”:
- Your Desired Focus (for example, your Kingdom mission, health, or deep relationships).
- An Undesired Focus (for example, the doughnut shop next to the gym).
As adults and professionals, we rarely grow out of this.
We are constantly tempted by things that bring quicker, shallower results. God has plenty for us to focus on, but much of it reaps rewards we cannot instantly see. Our spiritual enemy, however, has a playbook full of “instant” distractions intended to throw us off course altogether.
What is the Desired Focus?
Our ultimate role as believers is to love God, love people, and make disciples. If I were to distil that role down even further, it is summed up perfectly by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…”
Matthew 6:33, NIVUK
Note that Jesus says “Seek first”. There is not a “second”. For everything else in your life, you have two options: put it second or throw it out altogether. Or make an idol of it.
There is an old joke about a man who pleaded with God to bring his gold to heaven; when he arrived, Saint Peter looked inside the man’s bag and asked why he had brought a lump of pavement.
The only things of eternal value are those done with a seeking-first-the-kingdom attitude. Everything else is a distraction.
The Forensic De-clutter
What does seeking the Kingdom first actually look like in a professional or personal life?
Here are some examples:
- Decision Making: Every choice runs through a filter: What will honour God best?
- Career Choices: A house move or job change is less about the salary and more about the “Kingdom fit”. Is there a solid church nearby? Does this job sacrifice my godly commitments?
- Family: Success for your children is not measured by exam results or high paying jobs, but by whether they have a heart to serve God.
Your spirit agrees with this as you read it. But your flesh, the untamed part of your nature, might be making excuses. This is exactly where the enemy’s playbook opens.
The Three Hooks of Distraction
In 1 John 2:16, we are given three categories of distraction that the world and the enemy use to hook us:
For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16
This is one of those verses we might skim over, or just see as a list of bad practices. But it holds a powerful key to understanding temptation and distraction, because we see these three mechanisms at play in the Garden of Eden during the first ever sin, where it all started. And amazingly, we also see Jesus face and defeat these parallel hooks during His temptations in the wilderness.
At the core of every hook is an attack on identity, tempting us to forget who we are and what we already possess in God.
Let us unpack how these ancient traps operate today.
1. The Lust of the Flesh (Physical Cravings)
This hook is about making yourself feel good without including God. It is the “counterfeit blessing.” It is the urge to satisfy a legitimate physical or emotional need in an illegitimate or impatient way, often by forgetting our identity as fully provided-for children of God.
“The woman saw that the tree was good for food…” (Genesis 3:6, NIVUK).
Eve was surrounded by a paradise of permissible food, yet the serpent planted a seed of doubt about God’s provision. Her physical appetite for this one forbidden thing was awakened. She forgot her identity as someone who already possessed everything she needed and chose to bypass the clear boundary God had set for her protection.
Consider the story of Esau in Genesis 25. He came in from the fields completely exhausted and famished, saying to his brother Jacob,
“Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (Genesis 25:30, NIVUK).
Driven entirely by his immediate physical craving, Esau forgot his identity as the firstborn heir. He swore an oath,
“selling his birthright to Jacob” (Genesis 25:33, NIVUK),
trading his entire future inheritance and spiritual blessing for a single, temporary bowl of soup.
Looking to Jesus in Matthew 4, we see a completely different response to physical desperation. After fasting for forty days, He was genuinely starving. The devil approached Him with a direct attack on His identity:
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3, NIVUK).
The enemy challenged Him to use His divine power to satisfy a legitimate physical craving outside of God’s timing. Jesus knew exactly who He was. He refused the counterfeit blessing, choosing to trust the Father for His provision rather than catering to His flesh.
In the professional world, this manifests as greed, power plays, or taking shortcuts to satisfy an emotional craving for success or security. It is the leader who completely sacrifices their marriage and physical health to hit a quarterly target, trading foundational blessings for a temporary bowl of professional validation.
When we feel the pull of the flesh, we must fix our eyes on Jesus. He reminds us that our identity is not found in our immediate comfort or success, but in trusting the Father for our daily bread and long-term sustenance.
2. The Lust of the Eyes (Instant Appeal)
This hook involves the quick-fix solution that ignores long-term consequences. It is surface-level satisfaction and the temptation to acquire whatever looks appealing in the moment, rather than waiting for what God has promised.
“…and pleasing to the eye…” (Genesis 3:6, NIVUK).
The narrative in Eden continues by highlighting the visual allure of the fruit. The serpent used this superficial, aesthetic appeal to distract Eve from the deadly reality of God’s warning. The sheer visual temptation overrode her memory of the consequences. She saw something shiny and new, forgetting the boundless beauty of the garden she already inhabited.
In Genesis 13, Abraham and his nephew Lot realised their herds were too large to share the same land. Abraham gave Lot the first choice of territory. Lot
“looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10, NIVUK).
Lot chose based entirely on immediate visual appeal, completely ignoring the deeply corrupted culture of Sodom that came attached to it. He lost sight of his identity as part of Abraham’s chosen family line, a choice that ultimately cost him everything.
Fast forward to the wilderness, and we see the enemy attempt a similar visual trap with Jesus. The devil took Him to a high mountain and
“showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5, NIVUK).
He offered them to Jesus in exchange for one act of worship. It was the ultimate visual allure of immediate, bloodless victory. It was a shortcut to the crown that completely bypassed the suffering of the cross. Jesus rejected the visually stunning solution, remembering His identity as the suffering servant who would redeem the world God’s way.
When our organisations abandon a solid, steady mission to chase a new toy, a flashy project, or the latest tech trend simply because it looks impressive we may be chasing what looks good to the market right now, but are we ignoring whether it aligns with our core mission.
We overcome this by fixing our eyes on Jesus. He teaches us to look past the instant visual appeal of a shortcut and focus on the joy set before us, choosing the difficult but enduring path of purposeful, mission-driven work.
3. The Pride of Life (Reputation)
This is the focus on how others see you, where you rank amongst them, and the intoxicating belief that you are the sole architect of your own success. It is the ultimate identity theft.
“…you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5, NIVUK).
The final trap in Eden was the promise of elevated status. The serpent convinced Eve that God was holding out on her. Here lies the great tragedy: Eve was already made in the image and likeness of God. She possessed the highest identity possible for a created being. Yet, in her pride, she grasped at a counterfeit version of what she already had, desiring to be her own ultimate authority.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is a prime example of this hook. Looking out over his magnificent empire, he said to himself,
“Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30, NIVUK).
He forgot that God had granted him his kingdom. In that very moment, his arrogance brought severe judgement. He lost his mind and his human identity, driven away to live like an animal until he looked up and acknowledged Heaven’s rule.
Returning to Jesus in the wilderness, we see how He handled the temptation of status and reputation. The devil challenged Him to throw Himself from the highest point of the temple, saying,
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (Matthew 4:6, NIVUK).
This was an invitation to create a public spectacle and forcibly prove His divine status to the crowds. Jesus refused to perform for reputation. He remained completely secure in His identity without needing a flashy public display or human applause to validate His worth.
In the boardroom, this translates to chasing the approval of peers or the status of a title over the substance of your service. It is the leader who makes decisions based on PR opportunities rather than what is best for the team. When the pride of life takes root, the business simply becomes a monument to the leader’s ego.
The antidote to pride is again fixing our eyes on Jesus. Though He was in very nature God, He did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage. Instead, He made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. We must root our professional identity in how well we serve others, not in how highly they praise us.
When Are You Vulnerable?
The enemy waits for specific “weather conditions” in your life to run these three plays.
- When you are low on energy, you are vulnerable to the lust of the flesh. You naturally want an easy fix. In these exhausted moments, you would rather “snack” on a minor distraction or a counterfeit comfort than do the heavy lifting required to put on the full armour of God.
- When God seems silent, you become highly susceptible to the lust of the eyes. You are tempted to chase something visible and immediate, reaching for a shiny, surface-level solution rather than waiting patiently on His timing.
- Finally, when you are isolated and without fellowship to keep you in check, the pride of life easily takes root. It is in that vacuum of accountability that your ego begins to whisper, “I can do this on my own.”
Our Counter-Play: Fixing the Gaze
We have established that the ultimate course correction for these three hooks is to fix our eyes on Jesus. However, in the daily grind of the professional world, that phrase can sometimes feel abstract or overly spiritual. How do we translate that into practical action? Let us focus on a specific directive Jesus gave regarding where our attention should be focused.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIVUK)
The key to defeating distraction is found in that second half: “…and all these things will be given to you as well.” The hooks of the flesh, the eyes, and pride all prey on the fear that we are missing out, that we lack provision, or that we must build our own empires. But your Heavenly Father knows exactly what you need. When we put Him first, He provides the rest.
To keep your eyes practically fixed on Him this week, consider implementing three simple Standard Operating Procedures to protect your focus:
- Prayer: Bring Him into every moment, not just the strictly “spiritual” ones. Pray before the difficult client call, during the commute, and whilst making operational decisions.
- The Word: Stick to a consistent reading plan. Do not just read it; listen to it. Let Scripture set your baseline reality before the inbox dictates your day.
- Fellowship: Do not give up meeting with people who keep you in check. You need peers and mentors who will ask the hard questions and hold you accountable.
Remember, we are here to win.
The devil is simply a fallen angel, and his playbook is entirely predictable once you recognise his strategies.
By understanding his hooks and implementing the right counter-plays, you can navigate your professional life with clear vision and undistracted purpose.
Next week, we look at the second “D”: Doubt – The whisper of “What if?” and how to answer it.
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