I’m thrilled to have my friend Chelsey DeMatteis guest posting for me here on the blog today. You may remember her as a guest on the podcast a few months ago, when she came on the show to talk about “Making Much of Christ”. Today, she’s joining us on the blog to share a very important and timely message. May you walk away from reading her words changed to the glory of God!
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Over the last few years we’ve watched the war waged against us though our inability to shut off technology. It’s not only grown anxiety issues, destroyed marriages, shot down true vulnerability, watered down the way we have relationships, and taken childhood away from children, but it has also changed the way parent. We’ve become less intentional, more self-serving, and more reliant on the “things” of this world rather than on clinging to God’s great commands for those who love Him.
The Technology Trap
I speak this all with conviction. Technology has become a cop out, the cry of depraved hearts who want to serve themselves. While yes, there are some good things that come from it, the bad I believe far outweighs the good. I could unpack this topic for hours, but today I’m focusing on one of the main areas I’ve watch technology rob us the most: stealing the God-gifted time He is carving out for us with our kids.
Many of us have fallen in and out of this vicious cycle, only to find ourselves knee deep in the broken hearts of seeing we chose quiet and distraction over engaging with our kids. One afternoon as I popped my son in the car, we got about 10 minutes into a not-so-long car ride, and I noticed I left the movie player at home. “Shoot” I said quickly, hoping a tear-filled ride was not to come. I just wanted peace. In the next moment I had a great awakening, a God awakening.
Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord
It was the kind of awakening that takes place when The Lord has been knocking at the door and I’ve pridefully been choosing not to listen. Well, that afternoon, it all changed. While I was panicking that my peace would be disrupted, my son started talking to me about everything he was seeing out the windows. I’m talking a non-stop flow of what the trees looked like, asking what the signs said, he was telling me about all the animals, all precious things I’d been missing when I chose creating “my peace” over God’s desires for motherhood.
You see, we’ve somehow bought into the lie that we can manufacture peace. That peace means still and quiet, no disruptions or distractions. So this had me thinking; what does God’s peace look like? When is this word most often used throughout Scripture? Here are 4 examples I wanted to share with you, two straight from the mouth of Jesus and two from the Old Testament:
-I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33-Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27-For we are powerless against this great horde coming against us, for we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:12-He will be our peace. Micah 5:5
If you look throughout Scripture to see when God’s peace is most often talked about, it’s clear that peace is not something earthly you can acquire. It cannot be manufactured or fabricated in any kind of way. God’s peace you’ll see is talked about often in the midst of trails, tribulations, wars, deep prayers, repentance, the foretelling of Jesus, and during seasons of uncertainty.
How has this changed my way of living, you might be asking? It’s changed everything. It’s revealed to me what I was placing my “peace” in and what it was costing me. The cost is too great to be left unattended in my heart. We cannot continue to let this war of our desired “peace” rule the way we spend the most precious time God has given us.
The enemy wants parents distracted, disheveled, and dependent on the world, because parents like that are too busy to point their children to Jesus. So moms, as we walk boldly in this position God has given us, we must rise up to live by the standard of His commands. We must hold fast to what we know is truth and diligently teach it to our children. We must seek our peace from the only source, our Savior.
Pray with me,
Lord, I’m sorry I have continued to think of peace at such an earthly level. I repent of my desire to put a screen in front of my child so that I can press pause on the high calling of being a mother to a child you created and entrusted to me. Help me seek you in those moments I want to turn on the show, hand over the phone, or grab any device to please me flesh. Remind me that You are my peace (Micah 5:5) and that nothing can steal that promise away from me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
About the Author
Chelsey Dematteis is a wife, mama, host of the Living with Less Podcast, and devotional writer for IBelieve.com. Her passion and mission are to equip women to “live with less of the things that are getting in the way of who Christ is calling them to be”. You can connect with her on her website or on Instagram.
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