FOMO has been defined as the fear of missing out. Social media is a key component of the promotion of everyone’s “highlight reels.” Reality is rarely, if ever shown.
FOMO is everywhere. Men, have to have the next new thing; golf clubs, tv’s, or other gadgets. Women, have to be on their phones, selfies, studying their friends’ trips on Instagram saying “we have to go next year.”
Where did this come from? Adam was the first carrier of the FOMO virus. He stood there with everything a man could ask for but then FOMO showed up. Infected! And, it’s been passed down in our genes ever since.
God had a different idea. He knows what truly satisfies. He knows what fulfills, and His will is that we love and serve people, not things. Well now, that’s an indictment on me, maybe you too! We know it, but don’t do much about it do we?
How to get rid of FOMO?
Hebrews 5 speaks of Jesus “learning obedience from what he suffered.” Once he was made into all God had planned for him, He became the SOURCE…for what? For everything God designed him to be. Obedience was only learned and can only be learned by us through suffering. OMG…really? There must be a better way? Nope. Suffering! When we surrender our striving of suffering to the savior, life moves toward “the yoke is easy and the burden is light.” Now, all of this is easier said by me and all of us than doing. But, it has to be done. What if we re-define our lives by suffering as God’s will to perfect us into HIS source? That takes on a different meaning.
I like what Andy Stanley states for us as individuals as related to relationships…”Become the person, the person you are looking for, is looking for.” Get ready for what He is getting you ready for by putting yourself around people that are better at it, whatever “it” is, than you, read, study to show yourself a learner, find a good counselor, listen more, call someone and vent, change your perspectives that don’t work…do something repetitively different and hard and awkward, until you change the current culture of your life. That is what it will take. Most people refuse this hard work. Doing the same thing over and over with no result is absurdity, ignorance, ludicrousity, stupidity, and downright laziness.
Francis Chan writes that he is spending his days working to make sure that his family is set up for the future. Not financial security, but eternal security. He says it this way…
People go overboard in worrying about their last ten years on earth. In my marriage, I have imagined what it will be like for Lisa when she comes face to face with God. Because I am crazy about Lisa, I want her to have a great life. More than that, I want her to have a great eternity. I want her to look back on life without regret. I want her to be confident that the time she spent on earth prepared her for heaven. Most importantly, I want her to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:23). A strange thing happened when Lisa and I started living with an eternal lens: it caused us to enjoy the here and now! We discovered that focusing on God’s mission for our lives made our marriage amazing. Eternal-mindedness keeps us from silly arguments. There’s no time to fight. We have better things to pursue. Too much is at stake. God created us for a purpose. We can’t afford to waste our lives. We can’t afford to waste our marriage by merely pursuing our own happiness. Any suffering for His sake is a constant reminder of our future where all the pain will be exchanged for glory.
1. Simplify- make your life consist of fewer things. Fewer people, fewer possessions, fewer activities.
2.Commit- commitments to a new dimension with God will keep you away from picking things apart and negating them.
3.Purpose- when you find your unique purpose for being here, it’s easier to relax. Now you spend less time dreaming about what you’re missing out on by not being somebody else. Go back and re-read “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.
4.Faith- trust God with the outcome of everything. Do what you can do- the next right thing- then relax in your faith. God is in the outcome business. We should be in the “suffering” business. It leads somewhere.
5.Pace- with fewer things to focus on, you will live your days at a better pace. Now, you’ll have more peace, more time with God, and more margin in your life.
Do this and FOMO will be no mo’!
