Sound of Surviving Blog

The other day, my screen time showed me how many hours I spent on my phone per day last week. I wanted to kick myself. 5 hours 31 minutes. Per day. That might not seem like a lot, but it is. 5hoursx7 =35 hours, and 31 minutes x7 = 210 minutes, or 3.5 hours. 38.5 hours spent on my phone. That’s like spending an entire day and a half on my phone out of the week.

In a world where everything is built around technology, it’s easy to do. We convince ourselves that we’re just checking our phone, and that we’ll get back to the world around us in a few minutes…. Then we find ourselves doomscrolling…. An hour after we said that. Whoops.

Now, technology isn’t always a bad thing; it helps us stay connected to loved ones, friends, and what’s going on in the world. But in our world where looking at our phones all the time is the norm, it constantly means we’re taking life, and the people who are around us, for granted. When we put down our phones and embrace the life that’s right in front of us, we’ll be amazed at what God can do. When we actually engage with those around us face to face, and take the time to just be with them, we show them God. We show them that they matter to us, that they matter to God. We don’t have to go around preaching to spread his love. It’s how we show up.

I’m not saying we should never be on our phones; technology is a good thing when we use it wisely. But when we consume ourselves in it, we fall right into Satan’s trap. We miss so many little moments, wasting time scrolling through social media, paying attention to things that are so trivial and have nothing to do with us, and we miss out on living the life God has given us that’s here in front of us, right now.

I might sound old-fashioned, but Satan wants to keep us with our heads buried in our phones. The more time we spend consumed by these screens, the less time we’ll have to do good to one another, or to spend time with God. He wants us arguing with one another in the comments section, cursing at people we’ve never met before, and likely never will.

1.5 days out of seven may not seem like a lot. But it adds up. If we do this every week, it’s 6 days a month. Almost a whole week out of every month, we’re missing out on life, consumed by a screen. Time doesn’t stop. For anyone. When we decide to put down our phones, we’ll see how much better our lives are. We’ll start recognizing the beauty in the world around us, the world that God created and designed uniquely for you and me to live in. We’ll be able to hear God’s voice more clearly, rather than the voice of the world around us. We’ll have more time to spend with those we love, not just passively so, but fully.

We weren’t created to live behind a screen. God’s plan is so much bigger and better than that. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us, “I came that they may have life, and live it abundantly.” We weren’t created simply just to exist, but to live life to its fullest, engaging with and loving others.