The other day I went out for lunch. I was supposed to meet someone there, and he was running late. I found myself standing there in the restaurant with nothing to do.
I immediately pulled out my iPhone. I didn't want to look like a loser just standing there.
Now, I've only had a smartphone for 5.26% of my existence on this planet. The other 94.74% of my life has been without it. So, if this situation had occurred before 2 years ago, I would have just sat there and waited.
However, with the increased technology at my fingertips, just sitting there wasn't an option. Why? Because I immediately felt lonely.
Lonely? Yes. The amount of connection that is available right now with technology is truly staggering. Anywhere we go, we can be texting, logging on to social networking sites, reading news, playing games, or whatever we want. Our brains adapt to this, so that when there is any downtime, any rest, any bit of time in between activities, it doesn't feel pleasant.
It just feels lonely.
I am beginning to believe that loneliness is one of the biggest fears facing Americans today. Loneliness and boredom. In our drive to avoid loneliness and boredom, we have engaged in patterns of behavior that will ensure the maximum amount of loneliness possible. We expect connection 24/7.
Go into any school, restaurant, coffee shop, or whatever, and you will see what I mean. If people aren't talking face to face, they are on their phones or laptops. Sometimes they are on their phones when their spouse or significant other is sitting right there with them. Why do people do this?
I believe it is a fight against loneliness. The cell phone has become the #1 weapon used in America to fight off the dreaded disease of loneliness. Try going to a coffee shop by yourself and sitting at a table without using any kind of technology. Just sit there, listen to the sounds, observe the people, see what goes on.
I'll give you about two minutes before you absolutely go crazy. Especially if you are a teenager.
An absolute feeling of deprivation will overcome your senses. The sudden awareness that you are sitting there by yourself with no one to talk to or occupy your attention will hit you like a baseball bat to the forehead. You will be restless, anxious, and nervous. As the withdrawal symptoms progress, you will become increasingly agitated and feel stronger and stronger impulses to pull out your cell phone and check the latest post on facebook or text you might have received.
All the while, the feelings of loneliness will intensify to a level you never experienced before you bought the phone.
I have no problems with technology. I really don't. I like the convenience of it and I like what it offers to me. I like the efficiency it provides and I would miss it if it were gone.
However, I don't like what it does to me when I try to obey the Scriptural command, "Be still and know that I am God."
Who does that anymore?
And hence, we feel disconnected from God, increasing our loneliness. Being still and quiet are not options when it comes to listening for God's voice. They are essential. However, if every time we get still and quiet we demonstrate signs of an addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms, we will never be able to hear the still small voice of God speaking to us. Technology has made it very, very difficult to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us, leading us, guiding us, comforting us, convicting us, and challenging us.
And so many of us conclude that since we can't hear Him, He is just simply not there. Or that He doesn't speak to us. Or that He doesn't care. Nothing could be further from the truth.
So instead of taking those moments in the restaurant to be quiet and still and listen for the voice of God, I popped open my Word With Friends App and began to occupy my time with a silly game. I wonder if God had anything He wanted me to know in that moment. If He did, I definitely missed it. I didn't want to be lonely.
But now, as a Christian man wanting to be close to God, I realize that I am even more lonely than I ever was, because the One I am missing is God. I believe that I am almost totally conditioned not to hear Him or be close to Him. I believe that my absorption with technology has conditioned my mind to avoid the very circumstances I need to be able to hear His voice.
I so desperately need to hear His voice and experience His presence. However, in order to do this, I have to fight down my fear of stillness and quiet. I have to steel myself away from the conditioned fix of technology that screams for my immediate attention and allow myself to experience nothing. I have to fight down my fear of loneliness, my fear of boredom, and simply practice stillness and silence.
It is in those moments that the Holy Spirit of God connects with me in deep ways unimagined by people who have never experienced it. If you don't know what I am talking about, I can't explain it to you. I just pray that one day you will experience it for yourself.
Now, please excuse me. I have two messages and four notifications on my Facebook page.
I immediately pulled out my iPhone. I didn't want to look like a loser just standing there.
Now, I've only had a smartphone for 5.26% of my existence on this planet. The other 94.74% of my life has been without it. So, if this situation had occurred before 2 years ago, I would have just sat there and waited.
However, with the increased technology at my fingertips, just sitting there wasn't an option. Why? Because I immediately felt lonely.
Lonely? Yes. The amount of connection that is available right now with technology is truly staggering. Anywhere we go, we can be texting, logging on to social networking sites, reading news, playing games, or whatever we want. Our brains adapt to this, so that when there is any downtime, any rest, any bit of time in between activities, it doesn't feel pleasant.
It just feels lonely.
I am beginning to believe that loneliness is one of the biggest fears facing Americans today. Loneliness and boredom. In our drive to avoid loneliness and boredom, we have engaged in patterns of behavior that will ensure the maximum amount of loneliness possible. We expect connection 24/7.
Go into any school, restaurant, coffee shop, or whatever, and you will see what I mean. If people aren't talking face to face, they are on their phones or laptops. Sometimes they are on their phones when their spouse or significant other is sitting right there with them. Why do people do this?
I believe it is a fight against loneliness. The cell phone has become the #1 weapon used in America to fight off the dreaded disease of loneliness. Try going to a coffee shop by yourself and sitting at a table without using any kind of technology. Just sit there, listen to the sounds, observe the people, see what goes on.
I'll give you about two minutes before you absolutely go crazy. Especially if you are a teenager.
An absolute feeling of deprivation will overcome your senses. The sudden awareness that you are sitting there by yourself with no one to talk to or occupy your attention will hit you like a baseball bat to the forehead. You will be restless, anxious, and nervous. As the withdrawal symptoms progress, you will become increasingly agitated and feel stronger and stronger impulses to pull out your cell phone and check the latest post on facebook or text you might have received.
All the while, the feelings of loneliness will intensify to a level you never experienced before you bought the phone.
I have no problems with technology. I really don't. I like the convenience of it and I like what it offers to me. I like the efficiency it provides and I would miss it if it were gone.
However, I don't like what it does to me when I try to obey the Scriptural command, "Be still and know that I am God."
Who does that anymore?
And hence, we feel disconnected from God, increasing our loneliness. Being still and quiet are not options when it comes to listening for God's voice. They are essential. However, if every time we get still and quiet we demonstrate signs of an addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms, we will never be able to hear the still small voice of God speaking to us. Technology has made it very, very difficult to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us, leading us, guiding us, comforting us, convicting us, and challenging us.
And so many of us conclude that since we can't hear Him, He is just simply not there. Or that He doesn't speak to us. Or that He doesn't care. Nothing could be further from the truth.
So instead of taking those moments in the restaurant to be quiet and still and listen for the voice of God, I popped open my Word With Friends App and began to occupy my time with a silly game. I wonder if God had anything He wanted me to know in that moment. If He did, I definitely missed it. I didn't want to be lonely.
But now, as a Christian man wanting to be close to God, I realize that I am even more lonely than I ever was, because the One I am missing is God. I believe that I am almost totally conditioned not to hear Him or be close to Him. I believe that my absorption with technology has conditioned my mind to avoid the very circumstances I need to be able to hear His voice.
I so desperately need to hear His voice and experience His presence. However, in order to do this, I have to fight down my fear of stillness and quiet. I have to steel myself away from the conditioned fix of technology that screams for my immediate attention and allow myself to experience nothing. I have to fight down my fear of loneliness, my fear of boredom, and simply practice stillness and silence.
It is in those moments that the Holy Spirit of God connects with me in deep ways unimagined by people who have never experienced it. If you don't know what I am talking about, I can't explain it to you. I just pray that one day you will experience it for yourself.
Now, please excuse me. I have two messages and four notifications on my Facebook page.
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