We shared our latest praises and concerns that ranged from proud grandma videos to concerns of a corporate takeover to the boiler in my basement that fuels my home's hot water heating system and currently sounds like a B-52 about to drop its payload.
One concern we all shared was how technology and social media have become such a part of our lives. Although we like to see photos of our children, grandchildren and extended families – constantly checking social media can be a real time waster. And how do we handle those friend requests from high school chums who, well, really were not at all chummy back in the day? Ruth suggested only logging on once a day and limiting the time – a great philosophy that takes some willpower – especially for Elisabeth and I, who are retired.
Well, as we often say, God works in mysterious ways.
This morning, my computer was being stubborn, so I rebooted. While I waited for my MAC to come alive again, I picked up a little book that Ruth gave me for Christmas titled “New Every Morning, A Celebration of God’sFaithfulness for Women” authored by Leah Slawson.
I opened to the first devotion, titled Misplaced Trust and read the following:
Sometimes it seems the
entire world is connected – through texting, phone calls, status updates and
the list goes on. We all want to communicate with one another – all the time.
We want to speak and have an audience, and we want to read and listen to what
others say. We need and depend on one another, and that’s not necessarily a bad
thing. We were created for interdependence like parts of a body.
But it’s easy to cross
the line of trusting in people more than trusting in God, talking to friends
more than talking to Jesus, seeking counsel rather than seeking the Counselor.
Our instantaneous
connection with others carries with it the danger of putting all our trust and
hope in others. We put faith in our companies, our political parties, our
social groups, our teachers, even our preachers. We can always find another
blog to read, website to peruse, sermon on podcast, text to respond to or email
to read.
We become dependent on
these relationships and before we know it they have displaced faith. Our time and our thoughts are consumed with
the words of everyone but God. Scripture tells us people are here and gone in
the blink of an eye. In a moment, our plans perish with us.
Only Jesus - only His
presence is lasting in our lives Only He will be with us in this world and the
next, every moment of every hour.
So without checking email, FaceBook, twitter, the local newspaper website or my favorite blogs, I began to write this post.
Now you could argue that asking you to read MY blog post is part of the problem. But I choose to think of it as a way to bolster my resolve and offer a suggestion to you as well.
Today, as recommended by the scripture below, I will put my trust (and time) in God, not in the princes of social media.
Psalm 146:3-4 (NLV)
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of a man, who cannot save us. 4 When his spirit leaves, he returns to the earth. His thoughts end on that day.
Stay warm out there (and perhaps say a prayer for my boiler),
Miriam
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