Have you ever unplugged from social media for a short period of time?  If you did, how was your experience – felt better?  Today we live in a time where technology and social media can allow us to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ faster and connect with individuals from across a street or around the world.  Because I’m from “Generation Y,” technology and the use of it comes rather easy to me.  At the present time, I utilize four or more social media platforms, occasionally blog on my website, and serve as a social media chair of a local organization.  With the hustle and bustle of work, family, and community activities, I decided to unplug from all this humongous cyborg of technology.   It was in this same time that I wanted to reconnect with God.

   There is an ever-present love/hate relationship with my car’s navigation system.  I love the fact that it can steer me to a final destination but I hate the safety feature that requires the car to be in park before it can be reprogrammed for another destination.  Just as my car requires me to be parked [still] before reprogramming the next destination, the same can apply to our spiritual walk with Him.  In order for God to speak to us and clearly provides the directions for our next destination, we have to be still or in “park”.   This is a challenge for most of us today because we are so connected with our smartphones, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the list goes on.  From time-to-time its good to place yourself in “park” and reprogram [with Him] to ensure that you’re going in a purposeful direction that is paved for you.

   The moment I separated myself from social media for a while, three questions came to me, “Where am I today spiritually?”, “Where do I need go?”, and “How can I better align myself vertically with Jesus?”  Those questions hampered my mind constantly, yet it was helpful to do a spiritual check-up.   

 

Rather than checking your smartphone in the morning, should you be checking in with the real smart one first?  Are you too busy working in church ministry that you’re not spending quality time with God?

Where do I need to go?

It’s good to remind yourself with the question, ‘Where do I need to go?’  While we feel confident in our planned route, sometimes God [operating like a GSP] recalculates our route so that His plan for us is accomplished.  Yet the moment we aren’t listening to God [like not listening to the audible voice on the GSP device], we end up facing unexpected road blocks or dreadful detours.   

How can I better align myself vertically with Jesus?

The last question, ’How can I better aligned myself,’ is just as important but sometimes the most difficult because it keeps us uncomfortable.  As in the example of my car’s navigation system, the system is constantly communicating with an orbiting satellite to make sure it’s going in the right direction. If there is a problem or traffic incident the system will recalculate my route base on what it sees ahead of me.  The Holy Spirit operates in this fashion (John 16:13).  That can be uneasy at times when the system will take me through unfamiliar terrain, but I trust it.  Do you constantly trust the Holy Spirit as the navigation system which is linked up to the heavenly satellite [God]?

 

   Challenge yourself to unplug sometimes from social media and really do a spiritual diagnostic check to see if the route in your life is in total alignment with Jesus.