If you’re anything like me, social media can more often than not lure you in. Before we know it, we have spent a good portion of our days (and nights) aimlessly scrolling through Newsfeeds and Timelines. We have mindlessly “liked” stories that frequently have little to do with our real lives and “commented” on things that only get us distracted, frustrated, or even envious. If you’re anything like me, you have had to take mental breaks from social media or even fast from social media because of the great distraction it presents. Personally, I struggle with what I deem the “Cyber Comparison Complex”. When I’m feeling particularly not- so-emotionally/spiritually- well, social media subconsciously becomes my playground for beating myself up. It becomes the arena in which I silently say to myself, “I wish I could find a love like that”, or “I would do anything to be on that beach that she’s on”, or “I hope one day soon I can post photos of my toddler”, or “she seems so fulfilled in her ministry….”
Social media is a place where many people flaunt. Social media is also a space where too many people fake. They fake their happiness, their kindness, their relationships, amongst other things. Of course, social media can be a powerful tool when used correctly and for the right reasons. But too often, social media fills up pockets that we can be spending with God or with ourselves. It’s not until I make an intentional decision to sign off from all my accounts, do I realize how much “free time” I have opened myself up to. Free time to read some scripture, or read a moving devotion, or check- in on my loved ones. Social media is so rampant in part because we do not want or know how to spend time alone, in silence, in solitude, with God. We have lost sight of that. We are afraid to be alone with our thoughts. So we fill up idle moments, from the time that we wake up to the time that we drift off to sleep, with a quick glance at someone else’s life.
Yesterday, I was at my desk at work. It was nearing the end of the work day and I was restless and in want of something sweet. I was led to a photo of a big, healthy, homemade parfait. With all my favorite fruits: strawberries, mangos, and bananas, topped off with granola. Immediately, I thought: “that looks divine! I would love to have that right now!” Moments later, it dawned on me that I had the very same parfait in my fridge at work. I had placed it in there the morning before and totally forgot!
That’s what social media does to us. That’s how the enemy functions. They make us discount the very things God has placed in us by gently pushing us to focus on what other people have. Everything that we feel and do, begins in the mind first. And when we are constantly conditioned to place our mind on other people, instead of God and the blessings He has poured into our own lives, we give the enemy a footstool and we truly lose sight of the awesome lives that we are already living.
So today, I challenge us to spend less time focusing on the external world and more time celebrating what God is already doing in our own lives. Let’s refocus and recalibrate today by lifting up this prayer.
Lord, I thank You for all the goodness You have already placed in my life. Forgive me when I make You feel as though the blessings that You have bestowed on me are not good enough. God, I pray for focus and mental discipline today. Anything that comes to distract me from You, I pray that you give me the strength and grace to limit it. Thank You for this beautiful life that You have chosen for me.
In Jesus’ name, I pray.
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