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Unseen – The battle that wages – Part 2

Unseen2

This is Part 2 of Unseen. If you are just joining, visit this link to an index listing of all posts in the series.

Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit and shared with Adam. Once they ate of the fruit, their eyes were opened and their nakedness exposed to themselves. They quickly sewed fig leaves together and tried to cover themselves. When they heard God walking through the garden, they hid. I find it interesting God calls out to them asking where they were. Of course, He knew where they hid. This was a rhetorical question to which they said they hid because they were naked. What shamed them they tried to cover and hide from God. But He is the Creator and always knows His creation.

Our social media interactions can be both the fruit and the fig leaf. It can tempt us toward areas of sin, such as jealousy, discontentment, bitterness, and ingratitude. It can also be the covering we use to hide ourselves.

I grab hold of that shiny red apple that looks perfect, free from bruises and blemishes. So I bite with a post that captures my children sitting around the breakfast table, dutifully reading morning devotions while eating my homemade bread, feasting on living bread. A beautiful moment.

I chew that bite, digesting the likes and favorites bit by bit. So juicy and tasty going down. Then it’s digested, gone, and I need more. But worse than my appetite for more is the lingering ache that is left in the pit of my stomach.

I look back at that post and see a fig leaf. I covered the moments prior to breakfast when my tone was harsh and my eyes cut deep. It covered the parts of me I don’t want known. The parts that might cause others to judge me or dislike me. Guilt filled the empty.

The enemy loves to fill our hearts with shame and guilt. At times this guilt is so heavy it will lie like a blanket over our deepest desires to be found by the One who always knows where we hide.

For all the wonderful aspects of social media, it can also act as a refuge where we run and hide from the trials, frustrations, and pains of daily life. Social media can distract us from running to the one true refuge.

This series is not an attempt to paint a picture of the harms of social media. It can be a wonderful tool, one that brings joy and laughter, one that calls to action prayer warriors, one that saves lives, one that raises money, one that connects people where distance has formed. Social media can be a wonderful, beautiful thing.

On the other hand it can also be a place we go to satisfy what only God can satisfy. Or it’s a place we go to in order to escape, which might just take us from experiencing God in that very moment.

Our desires aren’t something to be ashamed of. They were sewn into our soul by our Creator and must express themselves. Our soul recognizes this longing to be deeply known and craves it. We were created with a yearning to be known by our maker. The one who knows us so intimately he can count the hairs on our head.

Sister in Christ, you and I share the same desires. We desire to be known. We desire to be loved. We desire to be accepted. We desire to be seen. We desire to have a purpose. We desire to be secure in who we are. We desire true, authentic relationships. We desire joy. We desire a faith that slays our fears.

The root of all of our deepest desires is God. What our hearts thirst and pant for is Him. God. And you know what? He wants to fulfill the deepest desires of our heart with all of Him. And He tells us how to do it.

What threatens our desires? A silent competition played out in a highly seen world where we share more information than ever before and feel less known as a result.

A battle wages. The seen vs. the unseen. In the seen world, I’m tempted to fill these desires myself. It’s easy to do. I can pop into social media for a quick fill up. But what I’ve discovered is that my tank runs dry again. I’m pulled to the seen. It beckons me because I can see it and get immediate results.

His Word whispers to me:

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God calls us to this place in between. He calls us to live in the seen but to live for the unseen.

[Tweet “God calls us to live in the seen but live for the Unseen”]

To live for Him, desiring not attention for ourselves, but desiring to love Him so wildly that we cause the world around us to see the unseen through us. He gently reminds me that joy will be found when I live in the seen yet live for the unseen.

Where I fix my eyes is crucial. If I fix my eyes on the mess, it will pull me into its abyss. If I fix my eyes on my pain, the sting will be unbearable. If I fix my eyes on the monotony of life, the boredom will turn me into a stone pillar. If I fix my eyes on the load waiting for my back, I will break with the first step.

Social media offers us an alternative place to fix our eyes, and sometimes that is what we want. Something else to focus on other than what feels heavy. But there are times this causes us to miss the most excellent view.

Where we fix our eyes holds power. Let’s learn to fix our eyes on God.

In my walk with Him, I’m discovering new trails, which are more like paths that connect the seen to the unseen. A stroll is always more fun with a friend. I’m glad you are here with me.

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