Stuck in The Algorithm

2 Timothy 2:22, “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

“Wait, what? It's already been an hour, two hours? No, I just didn't waste all that time. I really should get up and do something productive.”

     Any of that sound familiar? Smartphones, Facebook, social media, TikTok, Google, all have become so prominent in each of our lives. Everything so easily accessible at our fingertips that when we have any free moment in our days, those statements become all too familiar. As I write, I will be the first to admit I can quickly get lost in my phone’s games or silly videos and my free hours all too soon are gone, and it's either off to work or off to bed.

     Recently I became aware of how bad I have become. Yes, I still take time to write my blogs, But I have found that lately I have not taken enough time to also further my ministry with my writing. A year ago, I left our church camp meeting with high ideas of all I would accomplish before this year's camp meeting. People I needed to contact and set things up with. New books to write and so on. Well… guess what? Here I am a year later, and nothing has moved forward like I had set out to do. I know part of the reason is that my life got in the way to some degree. New job, children drama, planning a daughter's wedding and so on. But that is only part of my life. Aside from work, sleep, and of course making time for hubby (a good bonus). I had times throughout my weeks to use my time more productively. Yet, it is always easy to get caught up in my phone’s games or with scrolling through those nonsense videos. I accomplished some new things with my ministry, but I could have been more productive. Now, I didn't completely lose myself in this, but I definitely could have made less time for it.

     Why do you think it's easier to fall into these habits and harder to fall into a habit of spending that same time with God? Is God boring? Is the Bible too old or hard to read? I don't believe that, and I believe you don't either, yet most of us still fall into that time wasting scrolling or playing. Why is that do you suppose?

     Here's the scary thing about technology today. It's called an algorithm. Any of us that use our smartphones (I'd say that covers a big majority of us) fall into that algorithm. The thing is that it is different for every one of us. Geared to our likes and easy to get distracted in. Videos, advertisements (especially for games), all designed to pull you in. Once there, we become distracted and the hours pass by and we've lost time we could have put into other things, time we could be studying God's Word. Please don't misunderstand me as you read this. We are not perfect, we need some downtime, but we need God too, on a regular basis. Instead of getting stuck in your algorithm, find a balance that gives you some ‘me’ time but also gives God time.

     Let's look at this briefly for just a moment. It starts out small, you sit down and just open your phone for a brief moment, just to relax for five minutes. You tap a few likes, comment on a few things, maybe scroll a ‘few’ videos. Social media is just background noise, a way to unwind, right? Yet, somewhere along the way you become locked in.

     It always starts out subtly. A laugh or two at a few tweets or memes. A comment here or there. Then before you know it, you open your phone to look at a friend's post and you're suddenly hours deep in threads, videos, and anything curated precisely for you. You, of course, don't notice at first but the more you are on social media, the more your feeds feed into your emotions, your time, and pulling for your attention. Suddenly you're stuck in a loop of your own personal algorithm.

     Again, don't get me wrong. Social media has its benefits and has connected many friends and family. It allows you to share and have a voice. Yet, if we are not careful, we will fall into a time sinking rabbit hole.

     If you find yourself here more than you like there are many sites on Google to help you find ways to find a balance. I could list what I've personally found in my own research, but this blog would be too long. Instead, I want to continue with the thoughts that inspired me for this blog.

     Did you catch what I was saying? Our social media life seems simple enough. We stay off it more than on it. A few hours here and there can't hurt. This reminds me of our spiritual lives, our walk with God. It is in our spiritual walk that the devil is going to come at us the hardest. If he can pull us away from our time with the Lord, he will have a better chance of pulling you completely in his direction.

     A missed day of Bible study here and there. Forgetting to pray one day here or there. Missing one Sabbath this month. It starts out slowly, and you don't even know it's taking ahold of you. Here and there then becomes more frequent. A missed service turns into two or three. The distraction of the world soon has you caged in.

     Once you're there the devil will personalize the distractions to fit your desires and those can pull you further into this world, away from Christ.

     Again, I am not condemning social media, phone games, and other things you may do as downtime in your life. I am simply saying that if you find yourself thinking, ‘where did that last hour go’ or ‘what did I actually accomplish today’ (I am talking to myself too). Or ‘we really have missed a lot of church lately’; ‘I forgot to pray again, I'll do better tomorrow’.  Maybe it's time to reevaluate things in your daily routine. See where you may be stuck in an algorithm and find ways to change things up. Release, reflect, rethink, refocus. Release the things that hinder you, reflect on the past, and rethink and refocus on ways to make some changes. And remember, all things are possible with God. Seek Him for the help to stay out of the algorithms of life and stay in step with Him. He will help you and give you the strength you need to change things up.

If we're honest life gets busy and suddenly your schedule changes. Unfortunately, some things get forgotten or left for last and one of those things can be our time with God. If you start to notice that your life feels dry, or empty, that's a HUGE indicator that we aren't being fueled by our Lord Jesus Christ enough! Let's continue to discover some ideas on making time for Jesus in our day to day lives with our continue study Deepening our Devotions with lesson 4.

Lesson 4- The 5 P’s.docx

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