This past week, I came across two articles that got me thinking about the state of our world today. The first discussed the alarmingly high stress levels in adults, which are reaching unprecedented heights. The second focused on the loneliness epidemic among teenagers and kids.
We live in a time of great uncertainty, and in moments like these, God provides for His people. Interestingly, this provision doesn’t come through medication, science, or technology, which is where many of us instinctively turn for answers. Despite having unprecedented access to the sum of human knowledge via the internet, we haven’t experienced more peace or joy. Instead, anxiety and stress seem to be on the rise.
How Our Habits Shape Us
What we do regularly shapes and molds us. This isn’t a new idea. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, spoke about this concept centuries ago. Our habits, formed by constant use of social media and the internet, are fundamentally changing how we communicate, access information, and perceive the world around us. While these technologies have their advantages, they also come with significant drawbacks, including increased stress and anxiety.
Several factors play a role in this:
- Social Comparison – Constantly comparing ourselves to others online leads to insecurity.
- Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) – We feel like we’re missing out on the “best” experiences when we see what others are doing.
- Information Overload – With endless streams of data, decision-making becomes overwhelming, leading to mental fatigue.
- Misinformation Anxiety – The fear of being misled or unsure about what’s true only adds to our stress.
God’s Provision for Our Time: Living by Faith
So, what is God’s provision in such a time as this? It’s simple yet profound: living by faith. Jesus calls us to live by faith, not by science, data, the internet, or even by what we can see.
I sometimes wonder if our generation has forgotten what it means to truly live by faith. We’ve trained ourselves to interpret life through lenses other than faith. We say things like, “Oh, I was so lucky today,” because we’ve been conditioned to see events as coincidences rather than divine interventions.
Faith vs. Data: Reclaiming the Mystery of Life
We’ve been told time and time again that living by data is the best way to live. But in doing so, we’ve slowly replaced the mystery and joy of life with cold, hard information. Living by faith doesn’t mean rejecting data or wisdom, but it does mean seeing life through a different lens—a divine lens.
How do we return to living by faith? What does that look like in a world that values logic and data above all else?
A quote that resonates deeply with this idea is:
“To pray and expect nothing to happen is the worst thing you can do to your soul.”
When we pray and experience answers, but fail to acknowledge God’s work, we starve our souls of the nourishment they need. A life of faith is one in which we pray and expect to see God move.
A Life of Expectation
We often move through life without expecting to see God at work in us or around us. But living by faith means anticipating His presence, actively looking for His hand in our circumstances. Have you ever heard of the Reticular Activating System (RAS)? It’s a part of your brain that helps you filter out information and focus on what’s important.
For instance, when you buy a new car, say a Toyota Rav4, suddenly you see Rav4s everywhere. In reality, they were always there, but you never noticed them before. The RAS filters out other cars and makes the Rav4 stand out because it’s now important to you.
Living by faith is like training your spiritual RAS. When we believe that God is active in our world, we start seeing Him at work in the details of our lives. Faith becomes our filter, and we begin to focus on where God is moving because we expect Him to be working.
Conclusion
In a world overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, and information overload, God offers a better way. He calls us to live by faith, to shift our focus away from the chaos of modern life and toward His constant presence. When we do this, we begin to experience the peace and joy that we’ve been longing for—peace that can’t be found in data or social media, but only through a life lived by faith.
God is working all around us. Are you paying attention?
if you are preparing a sermon or lesson on faith and need images, you can use the images below.
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