I never thought or planned to be offline as a time of fast to turn into such a long time. I began last year when I chose to participate in "If We Will ... He Will" preparation for the 50 day "battle plan"; then as usual I start the New Year off in Prayer & Fasting (so it continued) along with the 50 days with 50 States Prayer Project for Revival - a continuation of "If We Will ... He Will" (actual link to their site), which does not end until February 20th, but we're in the final stretch. Meanwhile this Wednesday, is the start of Lent (already) which often is 40 days of "prayer & fasting" (yet again).
The silver lining in this, in addition to drawing closer to God & shutting off the noise around us, is that at least during LENT, Sundays are not included in the 40 day count, and Sunday evenings are quite often the time that I have chosen as my regular post time (6 p.m.). Fasting from social media is definitely a much needed break but the decision was not intentional to be away from "people" that bless my life, because I miss you dearly and ever so much. Yet it makes me totally aware of how God/Jesus must feel when we are not in constant touch and connection with Him. I have read blog posts and articles from others in the past that 'fasted' from social media and the benefits or blessings they received. I don't do that much on social media platforms like Facebook, or Instagram, or Twitter or all the rest; just blogging and I guess You Tube (I didn't know that was considered to be one). I could 'fast' other things but since I only eat one meal a day that wouldn't work for me & I'm not sure the withdrawal of sugar, etc. I could survive.
Anyways, it's not so much what you give up but what you fill your time with while you fast and clearly the hope is that you spend more time with God and in His Word. And I have done that!
I am not as connected with social media as others and I thought I was missing out. I never considered the possibility (nor did I really know about) FoMO:
| "Fear of missing out (FoMO) is a unique term introduced in 2004 to describe a phenomenon observed on social networking sites. FoMO includes two processes; firstly, perception of missing out, followed up with a compulsive behavior to maintain these social connections. |
and that I could be in "withdrawal" from that - like giving up sugars, caffeine in pop, etc.
... mostly because I wasn't as connected to social networking or media on a regular basis, however I sensed that I was developing a "fear of missing out" with the remaining people left in my life. I seem to have been slowly withdrawing from being with people and isolating myself more & more; and only had a few outlets to feel like I was still connecting with people. I will not go into the details of all of my isolation and withdrawal from people especially since COVID and returning to MN after 20 years away for the most part, except some very special ones (online and with my childhood friends) and now I have been temporarily (I hope) cut off from them also. So I was beginning to feel like it's not true that "no man is an island ..." (song and a poem) {I am more familiar with the song than the actual poem}. This island was of my own making. My island had become my isolation. I've created an island of my own, similar to walls that others build around themselves for various reasons. Often some people dream about living on an island, or escaping to an island. A tropical island might be nice, but only short term. I recall the joy I had looking out to the 3 islands of Mazatlán and even traveling out to them. I never considered it an escape but more of an adventure. Life on an island might seem ideal until a 'storm' comes, or you run out of supplies. There's an island on the small lake near our house in MN, which is accessible in the winter when it's frozen. In a way, I noticed that I sometimes feel drawn to venture out to islands as I gaze from a shoreline until I arrive there (lol) so I guess viewing them from a distance is enough.
My blog, which became and has been my form of social media platform since I was in Mexico, has steadily lost contact with the many bloggers I once knew; and now seems like an "island" because it basically has become my way of journaling my thoughts (publicly) and being accountable (but I'm not sure to whom - other than God, and He already knows all my thoughts, life and plans before I do) - to anyone reading this, with the hope that I am still sharing God's message of love as I share my story and journey in this life, primarily to encourage, give hope and inspire others to grow in their life journey; to know, love and serve Jesus more in whatever place their lives may be that we can reach out to one another and deepen our faith, strengthen our love & compassion for one another, speak life in the name of Jesus and lead others to know how wonderful the love of God is even when life gets hard or difficult.
I have no profound message of what being away from social media does, but there are plenty of others that have shared (so just google the benefits of a social media fast or any fast). I do think that it is a way to detoxify your mind and the clutter stored up in you and around you, however that basically is what I do when I sit down and begin to type a blog post. Some filtered, some not. I start out with one purpose and thought then I just flow. Often I move from one thought to another and it's not cohesive until I pause and ask the Holy Spirit to speak or move then allow Him to guide me with a clear focus. Otherwise, you end up with an endless flow going nowhere and I'm sure you can tell. Limiting yourself from social media has its advantages and also some disadvantages. Limiting yourself from God and people clearly is not the best choice so I hope I caught myself before I slip away and find myself and my life content without people connections but I can and will never limit my time away from God. Yet God created us to be in commUnion with Him and other relationships. Unity is God's desire.
During Lent (which is the main reason I started this blog post), I will still be on a fast (at least for now until February 20th) offline except after that I will post on Sundays when I'm prompted and as you'll see on Ash Wednesday (another post previously written then added to Blogger) that I have many options for LENT and I will FOCUS on One Word each day and a recap or sharing on Sundays! Hope you'll continue to read along and join me.
FOCUS
is much better
than
FoMO
GOD TIME & PRAYER
is always the
BEST
in
God's Word
every day
NOTE: I forgot to adjust the Publishing Time, so this was suppose to publish at 6pm on Sunday.
