FOMO – fear of missing out. I don’t know about you, but my FOMO is insatiable. This fear of missing out drives my gluttonous appetite for adventure. Is there a cure for terminal FOMO?
Peter probably had the same problem. Walk on water? Yeah, count me in for that. It’s got to be on the top ten on the list of attractions on the Sea of Galilee. He probably didn’t bother with a life jacket when he rushed out into the storm either, but then again, I doubt he expected the waves to be so fierce. Me either.
Still in the storm
We must learn to practice stillness, so when the storm escalates, we can trust the Savior to save us. Only when we know Him, will we hear His voice over the cresting waves, “I will never abandon you: not when you’re surrounded by difficulties, not even the poison stings of your own desires got you here.”
“But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 (ESV)
But stillness goes against my nature. This restlessness feeds busyness and distracts me from focusing on what matters.
Is He enough?
We already have what we need, because the Lord is our portion, God, Himself is our inheritance. He is enough and that’s the question the I am begs us to answer, “Am I?”
The answer is yes when we are satisfied with Him and don’t need more.
Push pause
God didn’t rest because He was tired, He rested because He was satisfied that it was enough. Trust comes from realizing you don’t have to figure it all out and know how it turns out or why it didn’t. Just rest.
“If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith.” Hebrews 4:3a (MSG)
The Greek word for rest is katapausis, which sounds a lot like pause to me. When you need a break from your worn-out life, pause. Practice Shabbat.
Jewish people still light candles at sundown on Friday, drink wine from a cup, pray a blessing over their families and break bread. They cease working to remember and praise. The Hebrew greeting, “Shabbat shalom,” says it all because peace and pause go together.
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.” Deuteronomy 5:12 (NLT)
Remember He did and you can’t
When Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples. He took the cup and broke the bread and said, “Do this in remembrance.” Remember what? That he died on the cross? Yes, but also remember the work of the cross, “It is finished.”
No more striving to keep rules and make sacrifices. Instead, rest in what Jesus did and His complete, eternal rest. All the effort in the world, yet we cannot do it ourselves. For if we could do it ourselves, Christ died for nothing.
Is there a cure for terminal FOMO?
Give it up
If you want to do it all and have it all, then give it all away; your time, your money, your heart. The cure for terminal FOMO should be fear of the missing out on what God has planned for you. Give up the effort and rest in His work.
I had not heard the term FOMO until SS16 conference. It was like someone had just described my emotional state.
These days I don’t mind missing social events so much, but oh I don’t want to miss out on what God has planned for me.
Good word Vickie.