I've decided to take a break from facebook for a fortnight. It's not the first time that I've done it, but this time it feels more significant.
It's amazing how many hours can disappear in an evening from just watching television or browsing through facebook. It's time that I've decided I am not willing to waste anymore. Partly because I find I am neglecting other things that would be more worthwhile. But also because I've decided that the time I spend on facebook takes me further away from truth.
It is so easy to start measuring your life against the lives others project on your news feed, and I know that I for one have found myself dealing with jealousy, competitiveness, feelings of failure and inadequacy, and I've generally just found myself striving. And the worst part is that it's so subtle. For me, time spent on facebook has allowed the enemy's whispering lies to gain a foothold in my heart. "You're not successful because you're not getting the kind of work that so-and-so is getting." "You are unloveable because you're not married or engaged when all your peers are." "You should own a flat and have a proper job by now, you are wasting your life."
And before I know it, I've joined in with the great facebook charade and I am projecting a version of myself to all the people who follow me in an attempt to prove that those whispering lies aren't quite true, although deep down I know that I have started to believe them.
It becomes so easy to forget that the single most important thing in my life is Jesus. Before all other things comes my love for Him. He doesn't care about some half-true version of myself that I display on my profile because He knows the innermost workings of my heart. He knows me better than I know myself and no matter how much of a failure I might be, He will always love me. Unconditionally.
So this fortnight, I am packing in my online persona and instead I'm going to spend those normally-wasted hours getting to know who He says I am. I'm going to be still in His presence and stop striving. I am going to trust in His sovereignty.
I'm going to engage with the world in real time. I'm going to spend time with people in person. I'm going to be more fully present in the day to day - not buried in my facebook app on my phone.
I'm pretty sure it's not going to be easy. I'm sure I will feel like I am missing out on all the latest goings-on. But I am also sure that I will come through the other end changed and a few steps closer to who I was created to be. And for that I can't wait.
