So I got rid of it...

12:59 PM

Oh that iPhone...

My Dad got one. Then my brother. Then my sister. Then it was finally my turn! Well, our turn. We had just moved to our new apartment and it made the most sense. I mean we didn't have internet so it would help us when we needed to look something up. It took awesome pictures and movies and my camera was not really working that well. Plus it was time for an upgrade on our phone so we got it free.

Be still my beating heart!

I was so excited. I started to instagram, tweet, facebook, check my email, watch a movie on YouTube, catch up on my new favorite show and in about two hours become absolutely obsessed with my new iPhone.

Yes, it was handy.

But all to soon it became an incredible addiction in my life and not only started to effect my relationship with the Lord but also with everyone around me.

As someone who has struggled quite a bit with managing my time and not being addicted to social media and my computer it is laughable now that I look back. At the time however, I just tried to convince myself that it was going to be just fine.

Right.

For months the Lord was whispering to my heart. Urging me to fully surrender the one thing that had truly overtaken my life.

"Give up the iPhone Katy. It has become an idol in your life."

"No it hasn't Lord," I would reply, "It does not come before You! I still read."

Yes, I did still read. It took about 5 minutes daily-while I was spending over 5 hours a day wrapped up in my own little world of social networking.

Soon however, the mere moments I had been attempting to spend with the Lord dwindled slowly away. I was too busy to notice. Most of the time.

Soon however I began to notice I was angry a whole lot more. Bitterness and unforgiveness towards some people and some situations were taking their toll as I began to lash out at those around me who I love most dearly.

Where did I turn to in all this?

Jesus? The Word? Prayer?

Sad to say I did not go to my Heavenly Father-even as He stood their with hands stretched out to receive me.

Instead, I began to find my satisfaction and fulfillment in my iPhone.

This went on for months.

I was absolutely miserable and all along I KNEW what I needed to do! I needed to make no provision for the flesh and get rid of my iPhone and surrender to my Savior with my WHOLE life.

But I refused to do it.

I lost my joy. I felt like I was shriveling up inside.

Always looking for satisfaction.

Always looking for fulfillment.

But never actually surrendering to the Lord so I could find true joy and peace in living once more.

Finally one day my brother just completely randomly asked me why I was so angry all the time.

I was shocked that it was that obvious I had not been doing well! That was the turning point.

A few days later I surrendered and my husband and I went to the Verizon store and got my phone switched over to a regular one.

How can I even explain the joy that obedience and surrender to the Lord Jesus brings.

I felt as though I truly was able to live again.

I started having my devotions every day, really cleaning my house, exercising, reading books and spending more time with my sweet little man.

Freedom.

Surrender brought freedom.

Funny how the enemy twisted freedom in my mind.

True freedom and fulfillment is not found in social media. It is not found in family. It is not found in friends.

True freedom and fulfillment is found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Is He asking you to surrender something to Him today?

Do not hesitate!

So I got rid of my iPhone...and it was the best thing I have ever done!

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13 Thoughts

  1. Yep that kind of stuff can creep up on you slow and Verizon is pushing people towards the more expensive packages by making the regular phones junkier that they were before.

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    1. Isn't that crazy!? It does stink that they are making regular phones junkier!

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  2. Fantastic Katy! This is a wonderful post!

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  3. Katy, thank you so much for sharing this journey for you! It's always refreshing and a blessing to read and hear about how others are {eventually - we're not perfect!} following God's plan and listening to His voice.
    At the moment, He is teaching me to surrender worry and stress for His joy and strength. It's a lesson that will take me a lifetime, I'm sure, but getting into His Word (I'm reading Acts at the moment) makes such a difference! The more I read, the more I am productive (and less stressed!) with all the other things I have to do.
    Sending you all blessings and hugs!
    xo Rachael

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    1. Thank you for you encouragement Rachael! You are so very sweet and always such a blessing to me!
      Surrendering worry is def a lesson I am still learning as well!!
      Hugs right back!!
      Katy

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  4. That is sooo soo good!! I am going through something similar in my life right now - I was spending WAAAY too much time on the computer, hours and hours per day, and very little time with the Lord. And I felt that the worldly influence from the world was dragging me down. I was unhappy almost all the time, irritable, and did not have the joy of the Lord that a daughter of the King should have!! I realized I had an internet problem.

    Well what happened wasn't necessarily a conscious decision to stop it, as it was making me so busy I didn't have time for that nearly as much anymore! On January 1st I started a plan where I will completely read through the Bible in 30 days. (I'm in 1 Kings now :)) That takes up anywhere from 2.5 to 6 hours of Bible reading a day, so as you can imagine, when I am in the Word so much, not only am I being spiritually fed in amazing ways but the flesh is getting so much more under control! It's amazing! And it really isn't as hard as you may think - it was for the first 4 or 5 days but I am getting into a routine and it is AMAZING!! I am so much enjoying getting such an amazing overview of the Word of God.

    So anyway, that was a monologue, but I just wanted to share how God is doing similiar things in MY life as well!! Isn't He so good?!!!

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    1. OH MY GOODNESS! Girl that is awesome! Praise the Lord! :)
      I am so happy for you and that is such a neat thing to read the Bible in 30 days!
      God is so good!!

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  5. Three years ago I was struggling with the same thing with Facebook. It took months and months before I was finally able to give it up (at an altar, bawling my eyes out) and after I had OFFICIALLY stopped using Facebook, I felt so liberated. My daughter was my only child at the time and she was not quite one year old. I was losing precious time with her and did not want her memories of mom being those of a mother who was glued to her computer.

    Just last night my husband was saying that we need to be oh so vigilant with technology...it can sap away our time like nothing else and in the end, the devil will have a stronger foot hold than ever. So, this was a good post. Don't ever grow cold to God's conviction in your life.

    PS-I would LOVE to get together and meet you sometime! You live relatively close to me and I think we would have a blast together! :) :)

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    1. Oh my goodness where do you live that would be SO FUN if we could meet up!!! :)

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  6. Katy, good for you for listening to the Lord and obeying! I know it's tempting for me to spend too much time with my phone too, and this was a good reminder.

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  7. Thank you so much for sharing this, Katy. God has been dealing with me on this very thing also. He gave me an iPhone on this last trip to Ukraine and now I have found that I've become one of "those" people. It is a very sad realization. Now last night I felt my Abba Father ask me to put away the distractions including that (with exception its purpose).
    Thank you for the encouragement,
    Through Christ,

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