FOMO
FOMO means “fear of missing out”. It is a phobia or fear that you will miss out on some important social or business event.
Hi, my name is Tod and I have FOMO…. (read this like you were at an AA meeting). While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have a phobia about it, I do “feel” like I’m missing out on things. What I really have is FOMOOG, the “fear of missing out on God”. Much of it has to do with the pace of life that I allow myself to live in. There are so many things that are vying for my attention, work, family, church, food, entertainment, books, maintenance on the cars and house, ministry, friends just to name a few. None of them are bad, there are just so many opportunities and only so much of me to go around. The list of demands is endless that are trying to distract me from what is really needed, an intimate relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I keep hearing the Father saying “spend time with me”. What I’ve been hearing in sermons and podcasts over the last 6 weeks or so are things like, you need…
“solitude with God”
“planned neglect”
“the spiritual discipline of solitude”
“seek first God’s Kingdom”
“sabbath”
“to be set apart”
“put yourself in a position to let God capture your attention”
“build stop signs in your life”
“stop and consider”
It sounds a lot like He’s inviting me to slow down. While I don’t say it out loud, I do let my actions say “I don’t have time…” Which is a lie! I have let the world tell me I should be doing x, y & z things. But the real question is, am I doing what God wants me to do? I hope so, but I suspect what He really wants from me is ME, and when he has that my activities will line up with His will for me. Even now I’m fighting FOMO because the State of the Union address is on while I’m writing this and I’m missing out on seeing it live, but I’m choosing to neglect FOMO and spend time with God and my Beautiful Bride for the rest of the evening. It’s a small step toward putting myself in the position to let God capture my attention so I can be fully His. Every tomorrow will be a new opportunity for me to choose intimacy with God…I hope you will too.
Ramkat Todd
Pray Hard, Play Hard and Live Well
