After coming on the World Race, I was introduced to this new acronym: FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out.
It is usually used in the context such as:
“I just can’t go to bed early, I have FOMO.”
“I should just stay here but I have FOMO so I’m going to go with them.”
FOMO is serious, people. I should know, I dealt with “it” for a long time. Any time I was away from home, I hated going to bed early and wanted to be up first so that I wouldn’t miss out on anything. If there was a conversation, I wanted to be a part of it. I did not want to be the girl who missed out. And if I did miss out, I would convince myself I missed out on something epic.
I want to take this back to the beginning. Why did Eve eat the forbidden fruit in the garden? The serpent convinced her she was missing out! That if she ate it, her eyes would be opened and she would be more like God. (Genesis 3:1-6) He didn’t convince her to eat it by coming straight out and telling her to disobey God, but simply that here was something better. Eve looked at the fruit and wow, did it look good. In fact it was “a delight to the eyes”.
Sin is tricky.. temptation, trickier.
Especially when others are doing it. Adam was there in the garden and it doesn’t appear as though he put up much of a fight when she handed some to him and he ate.
Most sin doesn’t come from a rebellious heart. It is simply a heart convinced there is more.
What’s the fuss? Why does everyone like it so much? We take a closer look and… well hey, it doesn’t look THAT bad. So maybe we try it. And maybe it doesn’t even seem too bad at first. Not all sin has a notceable immediate effect like Adam and Eve’s realization of their nakedness. We can live for years in the shaddow of sin that just started as simple curiosity, sometimes without even realizing it.
But we always have a choice. A choice to turn away from our sin, a chance to see Jesus. To see- no matter if it’s the first or the millionth time you’ve heard it- God gave His only son to die for your sins. All of them. So that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
In the last year of my life, I’ve found a lot of growth in my relationship with the Lord. I found comfort in knowing who I was in Jesus: a child, wholly loved. And with that new identity, I started to let go of my “need” to be involved in everything and my fear of missing out on simple things like not wanting to go to bed before other people, or not wanting to stay in if my friends are going out. In reality, most of my FOMO was me worried about people building relationships without me. I wanted to be included. But it’s okay to say no- actually, it’s necessary.
I’ve found that sometimes I have to miss out on community building to step outside and read my Bible or just look over the horizon and talk to God about His incredible creation.
Sometimes we just need rest. Sometimes it’s not healthy to pick up that extra shift, or babysit your friend’s kids, or take on one more responsibility in your small group. Sometimes it’s not healthy to follow the rest of the team out on adventure day, or stay up playing card games, or wake up at the crack of dawn when you are physically and mentally exhausted. Sometimes we need to just say no.
From experience, I’ll tell you it is simply just better here. Yes, sometimes it is hard to say no and sometimes I still overbook myself, but there is peace and freedom here: FOMO free.
