busy hands...

Earlier this week I finally hit capacity on my Iphone’s storage limit; so I set out on the adventure of going through 3 years worth of app downloads, pictures, videos, text messages, and music to try to sort out what should stay and what should go. And as I scrolled through an incredibly insane amount of pointless apps (almost 75 apps! What? Why?), I started to ask myself whether or not I needed each app. I mean, seriously, why do I have an app that lets me play skeeball  on my phone? I don’t even love skeeball in real life…so what purpose is it serving on my phone? The truth is that I don't need the ability to play skeeball at any given moment, but rather I need the ability to distract myself at any given moment.

I started analyzing the way I use my phone, my kindle, my computer, etc. And what I realized was I probably spend about 25% of my time on any of these devices doing something useful and productive (i.e. actually having a conversation with someone, reading, looking up information, getting directions…). The rest of the time I am using these devices as a distraction. My hands are always busy. I am always scrolling through pictures, liking statuses, pinning craft projects that I will never actually do because I can’t seem to put my phone down for more than 20 seconds at a time! My hands are always busy, but they are hardly ever doing anything.

This revelation caused me to ask myself two important questions:

1.       What am I trying to distract myself from?

The answer to this question could be different on a daily basis. Maybe it’s the stressful day I had at work, or the disagreement I had with my husband. Maybe I am trying to ignore a conviction that God has placed on my heart, or maybe I am just bored at a red light. Regardless of the reason, it is clear that playing skeeball on my phone will do nothing for me or anyone around me.

And that brought me to my second question:

2.       What should I be doing with my hands?

        “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts 

         and hands to God in heaven.” – Lamentations 3:40-41

The bottom line is playing skeeball is easier than following Jesus… Test and examine my ways? That sounds hard. It sounds like I might actually have to face all the stuff I’ve been trying to distract myself from. Putting down my phone at a red light means I might have to make eye contact with the homeless man on the sidewalk. Using my hands to glorify God is going to require a lot more from me than my Iphone ever would. But I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 9:6 “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” What do I want to reap from this life? If the answer is a highscore in skeeball then I am on the right track! If not, then maybe it’s time to put down my phone and lift my hands to God.