So, I've been contemplating an idea that the Lord gave me a week ago...purging.
Last week was The Kingdom youth revival at my church wed. through fri. and it was awesome. God moved in a way that everyone in the room could see and tell. I love being a leader now because I totally get filled up not only by God doing stuff in me, but seeing him doing stuff in the students.
Last Thursday night I was at the altar after a message preached by Johnny Wilson about DENYING myself, TAKING UP my cross, and FOLLOWING Jesus. Now, I've heard many sermons preached on this, but God totally used this one at this time for me! So, like I said, I was at the altar, and was praying and God suddenly downloaded this thought into my brain...Deny yourself by deleting your myspace and facebook accounts.
wow, for me, that was HARD. One, because it was my way of connecting to friends who i don't see much because of schools or whatever. Two, because it had become a habit. Facebook was my homepage when I got on the internet and i was signed on automatically. So I would instantly be notified if I had any notifications or if my friends had changed their statuses, put up new pics, etc. The funny thing is, it totally resonated with me. I really didn't fight it much that nite. I think because i was in that "revival" state of mind, surrounded by the Lord's presence along with others who were experiencing the same sorts of things. Even that night, when I got home, I wrote a "note" or "blog" on it on myspace and facebook saying that I would be deleting my accounts soon.
After friday, I was hesitant, though, because the thoughts of the devil started creeping back up.
"you don't really need to delete them."
"you could just do one, and not the other."
"wait a while."
"look at all the friends you would be unattaching yourself from!"
...etc.
For some reason, MySpace was easier to delete. As I promised, I deleted my myspace account monday, i think. I'm not saying it wasn't hard, but it was easier than I thought. I felt really good about it!
I was A LOT more hesitant with Facebook...because I like it 10x more! anyways, it took me several days to finally deactivate my account...I just did it tonight. I know it will be harder to stay in contact with people, but I believe that the ones God wants me to stay in contact with will continue to email me, or comment my blog, or call me, etc. The ones that He doesn't will fall to the wayside.
So now that the "physical" part of the story is done, I'm sure I left you wondering, "so what?" or "why?" Well, now I'm going to tie in the spiritual correlation a bit better:
Because I have my own laptop, I basically have access to the internet 24/7. I spent a LOT of time on facebook and myspace, no matter how much I can deny it, it's true. God's saying to me that it has hindered our relationship, because there is only 24 hours in a day, and the more time I spend on the internet, the less time I spend with him or prioritizing. Facebook is not a NECESSITY. It is a LUXURY. I CAN survive w/o it, and I need to learn to do it. Though it will be hard to not be "in the know" as much, God will reward me for my sacrifice.
Does this mean I will never get on facebook again? I don't think so, but I do not have a "reactivation" date set. God will give the privilege back to me when he sees fit. It's his timing, not mine, that I'm after.
Taking six steps and sacrificing,
denying myself, taking up my cross, and following,
fighting for the heart of my king and for the lost and dying,
revolutionizing,
--Allie
