No Swipe November: Could we make it a thing?

The thing I always thought I was meant to "do for Christ" was to write. I got this notion because I had learned over time that my spiritual giftings were in teaching and prophecy. I've had multiple confirmations from the Lord that writing was an outlet for those gifts. To date, I've written two books, quite a few published articles, and started this blog all to "fan my gift into flame." (2nd Tim 1:6) One year ago I published a blog about Hurricane Michael that became the most widely read thing I had ever written. That blog post currently has over 5100 views and the blog itself was published in a local newspaper with a distribution of over 15,000 copies. By the world's standards, pretty successful, right?
But Hurricane Michael had more impact on my 'spirituality' than just a successful blog post. It started a cascade that led to ever increasing 'successes'...by the world's standards. Immediately after the hurricane, I reached out to Panama City patients who were expecting. The response was enormous and that month of October 2018 I delivered more babies  than I had delivered in any one month in my entire career. The impact was a ripple effect felt in my practice throughout the holidays. Going into 2019, two local ob/gyns who practice at the same hospital as me suddenly left. Again the impact was a boost to my practice with more patients and bigger numbers. People would repeatedly say to me, "I don't know how you do it, you're so busy!" But something in my spirit cringed every time I heard that. (and still does!)  "Busy" became a word that didn't feel comfortable.  It wasn't that I had more than I felt like I could handle; the Lord has always been faithful to provide me rest when needed.  Like giant storm waves hitting the shore, busyness was changing the cadence and rhythm of my spiritual life. I could feel it affecting my soul.  "Sin and busyness have the same effect - they cut off our connection to God, to other people, and even to our own soul." (Ann Voskamp)  As Corrie Ten Boom once said, "If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy."

God started talking to me about the cadence of my spiritual walk and how He measures success. Over and over I kept hearing the Holy Spirit say to start being faithful with what you have right in front of you. Be boring. Seek the mundane. Stop running to do great things that have a finish line. Instead go at a pace that can be interrupted. Be responsive to the moment right in front of you.  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8) I heard a message on the parable of the talents. (Matthew 25) The servants with 5 and 2 talents respectively used what God had given them "each according to his ability"; they each doubled what the master gave them. When it came time to settle up, they are called two things: good and faithful. These are the metrics God uses define success for the talent we are given...GOOD and FAITHFUL. Not by likes, followers, or dollars. I was forced to ask myself then, am I prioritizing being faithful? Being faithful is long obedience in the same direction. It is a bunch of consistent small actions of love that look like Christ. Why is this important? Because God is less concerned with us doing something for Christ than He is us becoming more like Christ. God made it abundantly clear that my daily and increasing interactions with people are what He is most concerned with; how am I stewarding them?Maybe, just maybe, God prefers me to use teaching and prophecy there in the four walls of exam rooms, hospital corridors, or talking to my neighbor.  Being good and faithful doesn't mean I have to travel across the globe or write a best selling bible study; it probably means I need to learn to love others well and be a better steward.

It should be completely obvious then why I was drawn to the latest book just published by Jefferson Bethke called "To Hell with the Hustle."  This book articulates so well what my soul has been feeling. It is packed with so much truth.  In it, Bethke talks about goals vs formations. God is far more interested in the latter. Formations are "who I am becoming through the practices I'm doing."  Our hustle culture that we currently live in is about exceeding limits. Just. Work. Harder. This message contradicts  both the message of the gospel and God's plan for our life. God works in the margin. Margin is "the space between our load and our limits. What we are currently carrying is our load, and our capacity to carry that load is our limit." Without margin, you become depleted, exhausted, and unavailable to do kingdom work when it presents itself. If I want to be formed (by my habits) into the likeness of Christ, I have to fight to maintain margin my life. We do this by creating space for God to work and speak to us. How? Observe the Sabbath. Spend time in silence. Read your bible. The world's voice (especially social media) is loud.  As Elijah learned, God's speaks in gentle whispers (1st Kings 19:12). If we immediately run to the world for all our affirmations and identity, God's voice will be not be heard. And even worse, Bethke illuminates that social media is curated to only show you what you want to hear and see. It is curated for you both politically and socially; it essentially reinforces your voice being the loudest one in your head. This is a dangerous place to be. As a result it drowns out empathy towards others because the focus is YOU. Why is empathy important? Because you can't love someone if you are all about the hustle. People are not tasks to check off our to do list in "acts of service".

I'm sure you have heard of "No shave November"? Well I am challenging myself and inviting you to "No Swipe November." From now until Thanksgiving I am putting down my phone and consciously limiting social media for these weeks; they say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Here is my deliberate shift and change in cadence to create spiritual margin. Did you know that your phone tells you how much average screen time you spend each day? My average is 3 hours! How did that happen? That sounds like a great place to start with creating margin and faithful stewardship: less screen time.