I thought giving up Facebook and Instagram might be somewhat of a challenge, it felt as though a lot of my time was tied up in Social Media. It turns out it was effortless. I didn’t miss it at all, nor did I crave getting on it. I’d gotten on one time during my hiatus to post some tickets. I thought for sure I’d pause to be curious about the 20+ notifications I had. I found that I was able to leave it alone with no problem.
In the first few days, I did attempt to find the apps on my phone mainly as something to do. Not because they had a hold on me but rather because they were a space filler.
Book Takeaways
Here are a few takeaways that sat with me in the book I was reading The 40-Day Social Media Fast, by Wendy Speake.
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan”
C.W Lewis
“Whatever keeps me from my bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear”
A.W. Tozer
“When we don’t make the choice to leave our temptation behind, we’re making the choice to allow the temptation to remain”
Wendy Speake
“what divides your attention? That which divides your attention will divide your affection.”
Wendy Speake
Every Split Second
The saying “It only takes a Second” is used for many avenues in life, to tell a loved one you love them, to buckle up, to have courage, to regret, to…
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan”
Every split second is claimed by God because his time is eternal. It’s already known, it’s already written.
It’s counterclaimed by Satan because of the fall. Satan only has this brief window of time in which he can lure us away from Christ, where he can cause extremely permanent damage, and he is getting desperate as his time is coming to a close. There are only seconds left (in God’s time) until Jesus returns.
How do you plan to spend them…
However Harmless
It’s as simple as this, and it’s a sad truth. The things we look for to fill the spaces are what hold our heart, however harmless.
“Whatever keeps me from my bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear”
Sure while I was on my social media fast I was/am still in the word. This time could have been a time deep in word and prayer, and if I’m honest it stayed about the same… I found other things to distract me. The amount of time we waste scrolling on FB or Instagram is hours. I know because I filled those hours with reading, not 2 books a month but 4. I did 2 puzzles, both 1,000 pieces.
Recently toward the end of my fast, I started to binge-watch a show. Television wasn’t on my list as a removal. It was one of those really good ones too that works its way into all of your free time breaks… I no joke found myself thinking about it before heading to bed or first thing when I woke up. Trying to solve its current mystery. Luckily, I caught my actions and was able to check and adjust. If I found my mind drifting toward the plot of the show I’d start praying instead. I wouldn’t allow myself to watch it until I’d read my bible in both the morning and the night before turning to it.
However harmless it may appear, it’s good to keep it in check.
Remaining Temptation
I mean, think about turning into a pillar of salt (Read Genesis 19 for this story) – it’s about temptation.
“When we don’t make the choice to leave our temptation behind, we’re making the choice to allow the temptation to remain”
If something tempts you, calls to you, has a hold on you, so much so you can’t set it down and leave it behind…chances are that thing is NOT healthy for you. It’s tempting you beyond your control, and if you have no control, then it has control over you.
Don’t choose to allow the temptation to remain, if there is something in your life that is controlling you in this way, maybe that is the thing you need a 40-day fast from. If you can’t bring yourself to do it on your own, ask Jesus to help you, and continue to ask until you no longer feel its hold over you. Ask a friend to hold you accountable. Temptations can become Addictions.
Attention
Calling all affection…
“what divides your attention? That which divides your attention will divide your affection.”
We are at war.
People vs Phone.
The Phone is winning…
Everyone has one, but no one can seem to set it down.
I dare say 90% of the time it lives less than a meter stick away from its owner.
Do we put down the phone when someone approaches, or do we continue our task, glancing up at the person who dared to interrupt us?
What has our tone become as we are so rudely interrupted?
Are we affectionately cuddling up with our loved ones at night? Or are we in separate rooms and separate spaces doing “our own thing”
Who has our attention the most?
Every Square Inch
The phone has become a tool to fill the empty spaces in our lives.
I have a few minutes, I’ll just…
Check FB, get on Instagram, or make a TicTok (can that be done in a few minutes? I don’t know).
I’ll play a round of this game, google this thing I’ve been meaning to look up, look up a song…
Call me crazy, but what if in those few minutes, we sent an old-school note off to a friend, or helped a random stranger, checked in with one of our kids about their day, said a prayer, looked up a bible verse, or tried something new…
We get to define the way that every square inch of our life is filled up.
So is it filled up with edifying God-given gifts?
Or have we filled it with one distraction after the other, only to find out that Satan is actually in control?
If it happens to be the latter here is a reminder, you can kick him out.
Reclaim the inches of your life, it’s fleeting, only eternity is everlasting.
Only Jesus can get us to eternity, and you know what won’t be there…
PHONES.
2 Responses
So much good stuff in this. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Even though my hearing aids are controlled by an app on my phone, I am getting better at leaving it in another room for a while or on my desk while I visit classrooms. I am know for leaving the volume muted not just during but after church because I forget about it.
I live with mine muted! I’ve also now started to just leave mine in airplane mode during the day. That way I still have it for a timer or for counting steps. But if I try to go on the internet, I’d have to take it off airplane mode. It helps me to ask myself “Was I getting on the internet for something important, or just to buy time”