Overcoming the Fear of Missing Out - Your Nightly Prayer - July 23rd
Overcoming the Fear of Missing Out
by Michelle Treacy
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE
“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.”- Psalm 84:10
SOMETHING TO PONDER
Friend, I am sure we have all been in a position or two when it has seemed as though we are missing out. Or seasons when things are happening around you, and you just know you are in the stage of FOMO!
Most of us will have heard the term FOMO at some point. It happens when there is a flash sale, and our bank balance is zero. Or when that party is arranged and we are unable to attend, maybe we are just not even invited!
Simply put, FOMO is the fear of missing out on the good things.
But this idea exists in the church also. Fear of missing out when someone is utilizing their gifting and it feels like it doesn’t leave space for us and ours.
When we feel like we miss events that our brothers and sisters are able to go to, today, for example, my friends are at a Bible based women’s conference, and I wasn’t able to go due to family reasons, and I feel FOMO. I am thrilled they were able to go, and grieving the fact I wasn’t. I do feel a little left out. As adults, we would never admit that out loud because it seems a little childish. But when we don’t admit our feelings, those feelings really affect our lives. They affect our identity, our sleep, and our insecurities. Those feelings niggle in the background, and we feel it in our souls.
But what if Psalm 23 is right, and the Lord being our shepherd is all we need?
This verse we are looking at today talks about how being with the Lord and dwelling in His house is better than anything else.
But I wonder, is that what we really think?
Are we content with just Jesus?
I know I would like to be in a place where my soul is content with Jesus. That my heart is satisfied with Him and I do not thirst or long for anything but.
Yet I know, as maybe you do to, that sometimes that is not true, sometimes I just fear that I am missing out.
It is then that I need to come back to God and ask Him to realign my priorities and keep Him at the centre and the top spot of my life.
When my sisters or brothers in Christ seem to be thriving and I am drowning, it is then I need the Lord to pull me up and lift my head.
When my brothers and sisters seem to be utilizing their gifts and I am over here in the secret place, feeling forgotten, I need to remember who it is that I am waiting on. It is not my pastor, or leader, but God alone who opens doors to ministry. We wait on the Lord alone.
There is a joy in simply sitting with Jesus, even when you sit with Him alone.
There is joy in bringing your hurt to Jesus and letting Him put healing balm on the parts of you that you just do not know how to fix.
The chapter we read from today, Psalm 84 also reads: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, (that’s God) whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” Believer, tonight as you lay your head down to rest, remember you are blessed when your strength is found in Christ and your heart is set on a pilgrimage or journey with Him.
Oh, Friend, when everyone else seems to be thriving, let's allow this devotional to ground our hearts in the joy of simply being with God.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father,
When I am feeling the fear that rises from missing out, help me to remember that you position me to be wherever I am and that in you, I have all that I need. I am blessed to know you, and I am fulfilled, I am satisfied, and I am completed in you alone.
Remind me Holy Spirit that you will guide me and lead me into all the places that you would like me to be and help me to be sensitive to any leading you are giving me.
Help me to be obedient to the call.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
1. “The Lord is my shepherd, and I have all that I need.” Let’s rest in that truth today and stand firm on those words, King David has described our saviour so beautifully with.
2. Friend, let us remind ourselves that our strength, our hope, and our purpose are found in God, and if we are feeling left out in our gifting, God will open doors at the right time.
3. Feeling the fear of missing out is not a bad thing, friend; it is not a sin, but it does help shine a light on areas of our souls that need a readjustment. Let’s take those things to Jesus and ask Him to help us realign.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Radu Florin
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