For those of you who may be unaware, I am fasting completely from social media platforms for the full 2020 year. How has it been so far? Well, let me just tell you.
When I first entertained the idea of removing myself entirely from social media, I lightheartedly told myself I would never make it a full year. Facebook had been such a huge part of my life for the previous five years. From creating, maintaining, and thriving in a business that is operated entirely online, to staying in touch with the many relationships I had developed throughout my childhood, to all the new friendships I had been granted, life on Facebook was very much… well, life.
Would I really be able to remove my accounts, delete the apps off my phone, and never think about sharing a cool story, uploading adorable pictures of my children, or profile-creeping on people again? Trust me when I say, it’s as unrealistic as it sounds.
Of course I have been tempted to jump on my phone and share silly moments with my friends and family. Like the time my sweetheart daughter volunteered herself to pray at another kids’ party before lunch, and the precious prayer lasted SO LONG that I could not stop laughing!! In fact, it was so long, that she actually laid her head down on the table while she was STILL PRAYING! Bless her. It was the most precious babbling prayer I have ever heard and I wish I could have recorded it.
Or the other time when a young man asked for prayer at church, and while my prayer partner was praying, the Lord revealed to me an image to share with him at the conclusion of the prayer. It felt awkward at first to say, “Hey, before you leave, I have a vision I feel like the Lord wants me to share with you”, until his face immediately lit up, a huge smile exploded on his face, and he responded with, “that’s the EXACT image I have been seeing this entire week!!” Now, he always gets excited when he sees me at church. It’s moments like those that remind me why I am not ok settling for a mediocre and comfortable life.
But, even though I no longer have the social media platform to share these incredible moments of my life, I do have an even better listener and encourager than every “like” and “comment” I’d get through Facebook— my Abba, Father.
At first, sharing these moments with my Daddy in Heaven seemed… well, strange. Why would I tell Him about funny moments or cool encounters with His Spirit when He is literally everywhere I am and knows all things? But, you see, God doesn’t just want to be our God (though, He is a jealous God and warns us to not serve any other God’s before Him). He wants to be our Friend, our Companion, and our loving Father, too. He doesn’t want to just know what happens in our lives, He wants to share in our lives with us!
Our Abba wants us to RUN to Him with everything we want to share with other people. He loves hearing us excitedly share with Him the blessings He has given us, or the hesitation in our voices when we are about to take a leap of faith, or the concern in our hearts when we feel we are at a breaking point. Our God wants to be everything to us, so we are no longer dependent on other people to be our support, encouragement, and strength.
It may be awkward at first, and it may be really uncomfortable, but when you begin to align your life with God as your first for everything, you’ll be amazed how quickly and powerfully your life begins to change.
How can you make changes today to start living an amazing, awkward, and powerful life? It begins with creating space, and I can’t wait to share with you how creating space has rocked my world!
Stay tuned, my friends!