I’ve had some thoughts brewing over the last couple of
months…
I’ve recently set myself a challenge that you can join me in if you feel up for it. I realised that our devices have become probably the greatest addiction of our age as we become hooked to our serotonin being tapped every time we pick them up and try to connect with all of our loved ones, the news, our banks, our google fount of knowledge, our address list, our note files, photos, film, music, even our alarm clocks… We’ve become completed mesmerised by these little mechanisms and our generation has never had to face a greater addiction than this all-consuming invention that commands our attention. I’m sure you’ve all experienced having friends or family over and everyone is browsing on their phones while you’re meant to be having some quality time together….and I’m also at fault. It seems as though no soul is immune to the effects of device addiction. So…..the challenge is this. Instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night, can you reach for something more sustaining? For the last month I’ve been attempting to reach for my bible and let God soak me with a deep word last thing at night and first thing in the morning, before switching wi-fi on to see who has messaged me. Believe me, this has been a tremendous challenge and has highlighted to me how much the habit of reaching for my phone has become entrenched in my psyche. Since setting this personal challenge, the last month has been a rich one.
The references I’ve been reading have all been pointing at one theme…entering His rest. The first word was from Hosea 14 about ‘what more shall I do with idols?’ reminding me how anything, whether it’s a person or a device, if in the first place, has become an idol in our lives. Then Psalm 46 ‘Be still and know that I am God’…surely one of the hardest things in our age of distraction to follow…to simply be still. The next day was about putting aside idols in Psalm 24. The next was from 1 Samuel 12 vs 20 – 22 about following the Lord and turning aside from empty things which cannot deliver you. The next day I woke to Psalm 29 vs 11 which describes the Lord blessing His people with peace. Another day started with Isaiah 32 vs 18 again about His people dwelling in peaceful habitations and in quiet resting places. Then Deuteronomy 12 vs 8 – 9 talks about His people having ‘not yet come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.’ After that, Jeremiah 6 vs 16 ‘Ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’.
So, my thoughts after mulling over these collective verses were
something like this… God wants to give us rest, but we have a choice. We have to proactively choose to enter His
rest. Who would think this would be a
difficult thing to choose? This entering also involves laying down our
idols, surrendering our addictions. Another
friend mentioned to me the verse from Psalm 23 about Him laying a table before
our enemies…right on the battlefield.
Even then we have to choose to actually ‘sit’ at that table. The act of ‘being still’, ‘sitting’ and
‘entering rest’ are all hitched with verbs…The act of doing belongs to us. Whether you’re under financial pressure,
you’ve been brought under fire, you’re stressed, you or a loved one is unwell
or you’ve lost someone dear to you…whatever your battlefield, entering rest in
that storm is something we somehow need to discover. Much like Jesus sleeping at the bottom of
the boat while the disciples panicked on deck, His peace came from knowing His
identity, knowing He had authority over the storm. I’m not trying to suggest we be in a
comatose state of numbness when all is blowing up around us, but we can find our God, pulling out a chair and asking us to sit down and watch Him fight
for us.
I hope this encourages you in whatever situation you’re facing and if you'd like to join me in the above challenge, let me know how you're doing. Please pass on this blog to anyone you know is struggling with device addiction who might be open to fighting against it.
I’ve recently set myself a challenge that you can join me in if you feel up for it. I realised that our devices have become probably the greatest addiction of our age as we become hooked to our serotonin being tapped every time we pick them up and try to connect with all of our loved ones, the news, our banks, our google fount of knowledge, our address list, our note files, photos, film, music, even our alarm clocks… We’ve become completed mesmerised by these little mechanisms and our generation has never had to face a greater addiction than this all-consuming invention that commands our attention. I’m sure you’ve all experienced having friends or family over and everyone is browsing on their phones while you’re meant to be having some quality time together….and I’m also at fault. It seems as though no soul is immune to the effects of device addiction. So…..the challenge is this. Instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night, can you reach for something more sustaining? For the last month I’ve been attempting to reach for my bible and let God soak me with a deep word last thing at night and first thing in the morning, before switching wi-fi on to see who has messaged me. Believe me, this has been a tremendous challenge and has highlighted to me how much the habit of reaching for my phone has become entrenched in my psyche. Since setting this personal challenge, the last month has been a rich one.
The references I’ve been reading have all been pointing at one theme…entering His rest. The first word was from Hosea 14 about ‘what more shall I do with idols?’ reminding me how anything, whether it’s a person or a device, if in the first place, has become an idol in our lives. Then Psalm 46 ‘Be still and know that I am God’…surely one of the hardest things in our age of distraction to follow…to simply be still. The next day was about putting aside idols in Psalm 24. The next was from 1 Samuel 12 vs 20 – 22 about following the Lord and turning aside from empty things which cannot deliver you. The next day I woke to Psalm 29 vs 11 which describes the Lord blessing His people with peace. Another day started with Isaiah 32 vs 18 again about His people dwelling in peaceful habitations and in quiet resting places. Then Deuteronomy 12 vs 8 – 9 talks about His people having ‘not yet come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.’ After that, Jeremiah 6 vs 16 ‘Ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’.
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| Our cat Christopher truly knows how to enter rest |
I hope this encourages you in whatever situation you’re facing and if you'd like to join me in the above challenge, let me know how you're doing. Please pass on this blog to anyone you know is struggling with device addiction who might be open to fighting against it.
