Are You Still Enough?

Our emotional well-being depends on our ability and willingness to do this: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Let me explain. I have been teaching for 26 years now. Students have changed over the years, as you can imagine. What has not changed is that schools still reflect the larger community around them. If there is homelessness in a community, the school will no doubt have students that are homeless. If there is drug abuse or crime rampant in a community, it will show up in the schools. Single parent households, parents working multiple jobs, porn addiction, teen pregnancy, “my child never does anything wrong” syndrome – all of these make up the dynamics of a school.

Recently I’ve noticed a new problem. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies are on the rise everywhere, and this means in schools as well. I’ve done a lot of reading to try and understand what has changed in our young people today, and how I can help them. I’ve found that researchers in psychology have noted the steep increases in these issues as well, and many of them have theories about the cause. They are attributing the increase largely to the ubiquitous use of technology. We now have a generation of young people who have screens available at all times. Got a down moment? Pick up your phone. Walking somewhere? Pick up your phone. Want some music while you work? Pick up your phone. The brain is never allowed to be bored. We have a phone for that. All of this phone use leads to solitude deprivation - the lack of down time necessary for you to function properly both mentally and emotionally. The activities available on your mobile devices are different than filling your time with a book to read or TV to watch because a person doesn’t bring a book or TV with them everywhere they go. Standing in the Walmart line, your brain has some down time – unless you pick up your phone.

Solitude deprivation is a problem. Like a computer that runs faster and more efficiently after performing a defrag program, our brains run better after down time. Today, however, people don’t let their brains defrag. They fill every bored moment with technology. And like canaries in the coal mine, this generation is warning us that too much screen time is lethal to our psyche. It is causing massive amounts of anxiety and depression, especially in our young people. We think the screen is keeping them quiet in the Walmart buggy while we shop or in the car while we drive, but really, it is setting them up for an addictive, anxious future. Trust me! I understand the lure of a quiet kid. But is it worth trading that momentary frustration for the habit of reaching for a screen – a habit that will later lead to the downfall of your child’s social and mental well-being? Or is it better to let your child be present in the moment, experience the world around them, and let them build healthy strategies for dealing with boredom? These are the times I used to sing with my children or play I Spy. Do we not want to interact with our own children anymore? They will be missing out on all kinds of learning opportunities if we do not. What will they be learning, if we hand them a screen? To disengage with the world around them instead of seeing the opportunities it offers, or learning how to interact with the world in real-time.

I was processing all of these ideas in my solitude as I picked up sticks in my front yard after a spring wind storm. Psalm 46:10 kept popping into my mind: “Be still and know that I am God.” The idea of being still before the Lord kept my thoughts running, especially after all of this new information I held about down time and solitude deprivation. I love that the Lord knows us so well. Our emotional well-being depends on our ability and willingness to be still. Science tells us this, but God tells more: “Think about Me,” He says. “Be still and know that I am God.”

Ironically, the Hebrew word for “still” in this verse is “rapha,” which means “let go, be weak, be healed, release." It is the same word used in Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (rapha – healed, stitched together, mended).” We are both spiritually and emotionally stitched and mended together by our savior, Jesus Christ.

The canaries in the cage of ubiquitous technology are warning us. Too much technology is not good. We have reached the point of diminishing returns. We are a people in crisis. It is time to take action. Put away the screens. Take a walk. Write things down. Go bike riding with our kids. Clean house or do yard work without music or earbuds. We must teach our kids to do this too. We must help them navigate the dangers of too much screen time. We must help them make time to think about the LORD. Scripture repeatedly tells us to look to Him, consider Him. God wants to heal our hearts and our minds, but if we are so busy inputting other information, we will never reap the benefits of being still and knowing He is God. We are in danger if we do not. But if we do, our stillness and reflection on the Lord will set us apart. And I imagine that in our stillness we will be able to look back over our lives and know that He is indeed God . . . and we will worship Him.

Dear Lord, forgive me for often times being too busy to stop for You. Forgive me for not teaching my children to do the same. Help me to be still and focus on You. Help me to be intentional about how I use my time and my technology. I want to worship You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Things you can read:
Lexicon on rapha: https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Be_Still/be_still.html
Them by Ben Sasse
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke