FOMO – it’s a thing. It stands for “fear of missing out.” While the slang term is new, the feeling is as old as time.
It began in the garden with the serpent calling God’s motives into question. Satan planted the smallest seed of doubt and, just like that, Eve feared that she was missing out on something. She became convinced that God was withholding something good from her.
It’s possibly the greatest danger to come along with the use of social media. We have this glimpse into people’s lives and we forget that we are only seeing what they want us to see. We forget that every image is filtered and cropped.
As we study other people’s activities and relationships, Satan begins to plant seeds of doubt.
You are missing out.
They are having a great time.
Their lives are so much more fun than yours.
It wasn’t true in the garden and it isn’t true now. Can we all just accept that no one is having a great time all the time? We all have good times. We all have bad times. We are not missing out.
Just the other day, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw that several people I knew had gotten together. My first reaction was that I was missing out on something fun. I feared that because I wasn’t involved in that particular gathering, I was going to be on the outside looking in from now on.
FOMO.
Thankfully, I have been pondering fear and my determination to live unafraid for 365 days. I stopped that thought train right in its tracks. I am finding that to be the key to living unafraid – taking every thought captive.
take every thought captive to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
It isn’t as easy as it sounds. But I’m getting better.
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Stacy <3
I’m so glad I stopped and read your blog today. When I was running from God, I lived in bars and remember feeling that if I wasn’t there, I would miss out on something or find out secondhand if I wasn’t out to experience it,so I would go regularly. What a slave I was to inclusion/comparison! I’ve since given my life to Christ and been redeemed, but still catch myself from time to time, reading through news feeds or looking at pictures on Instagram feeling that emotion, that I wasn’t included or invited, and that I am missing out. The only way I’ve realized to combat the situation is exactly what you’ve stated at the end: take every thought captive. The enemy can whisper lies to us and we can choose whether or not we want to hold onto them. By taking them captive and turning them over to Christ, it can be filtered through His perfect filter, and He will speak truth to us. We can move forward with our value intact. I loved this! Thank you!
I always say that Satan is crafty but he isn’t creative. He uses the same tricks over and over on all of us. Thank you for your honesty and willingness to let me know that I’m not alone in my fear of missing out! 😉 Blessings!