In Between All or Nothing
As a Christian content creator, I battle between society's perspective of how to navigate the social media/content creation world. How much do I plan and how much do I release? I am someone who has always operated from an all-or-nothing mindset. I despise wasting my time, especially when I so highly value time with my husband and kids. So, if I am doing anything that requires taking time and attention away from my family, I need it to provide some type of value.
As I type this, I can just see the smile on the Lord’s face. He has me in such a season of surrender! A season where I have to sit in between the all or nothing because that is where He is. See, what I am learning from this season is that God has abundance wherever He calls me, which means that I don’t have to strive to “make things happen” nor do I have to operate my social media like the rest of the world. I am free from the hustle culture and the feeling of having to keep up with societal standards of what success in the social media world looks like. Now this doesn’t mean I get to be stagnant. If God has called me to do something, then I am required to move; I don’t get to sit back and expect God to pour out His abundance if I am not doing my part. There is this sweet middle ground where God wants to meet me in this all, and in order for me to get to this middle ground, I have to surrender and allow Him to guide me. So how do I get to this place? I want to share what I’ve been doing daily to partner with God on my social media journey!
Seek First the Kingdom of God
Many of us are familiar with Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I thought I understood what this meant, but I really didn’t understand until I really meditated on this scripture. This could easily be read as pray, read your bible first, and then I can ask for all of the things I wants and God will give them to me because I am seeking Him. Nope on a rope! This is how I interpret this scripture now: Seek the Father’s face, dwell in His presence, pour your heart, talk with Him, plan with Him, invite Him into your day, spend time with Him, and then in return you will know Him and become more like Him. That is the prize, that is where you find your treasure. Oh, and then all of the desires in your heart (that God knows because He placed them there) will come to pass, and when they do, you will be so full from building your relationship with the Lord that they won’t come close to being as rewarding as you thought because you gained something greater than anything this world can offer. “And all these things will be given to you as well” is not the reason for seeking the Lord; it is what comes when we can truly release it all to the Lord, unclench our hands, and open them to God.
The Ultimate Invitation
After the Lord led me to fast from social media for 3 days, I realized how much time and energy I put into social platforms. It really felt like a detox; I felt like I was behind, missing something, and off track. But glory to God, because that stronghold was broken. He wanted me to see that his way of doing things is far more reliable than any rules, timelines, or systems that I was set on following. I realized that if I am going to do this, I need to invite the Lord to guide me. This is a us thing, not a me thing. This is ultimately for the glory of His Kingdom, not for my own glory. During praise and worship, I dropped to my knees, opened my hands, and said, “Lord, I invite you into this social media journey, please lead me,” and surrendered all of my plans to Him. This is something that has to be done daily, because we can easily wake up and pick up our own agenda, or be influenced by others to jump back on the bandwagon. Inviting God to lead is a daily choice that has to be made; it won’t always be easy, but it will always be in alignment with His desires.
Write It Down and Make It Clear
God loves it when we move on faith. Making a plan is a great step when navigating social media, it shows God that you believe that He will move and fulfill His promises. We have to make sure that we allow God to move freely within our plans and redirect us if needed, and make sure that we are not allowing our plans to take the place of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Father, I pray for my friends reading this today. I pray that they hear your voice through my words and that they are encouraged to seek you with the purpose of simply knowing you. I pray that they can release their desires and not have the urge to pick them back up. You don’t need reminding of what you’ve placed on their hearts. Give them the strength and humility to open their hands and let go of whatever they have been clinging onto and lay it at your feet. Father, I ask that you bless all that you’ve called them to do and that they begin to see the fruits of your promises. You are a detailed God, you are so loving and faithful. Thank you for all you are doing that they cannot see; I know that you are working on their behalf.
