Give yourself a break from having to know all the things, all the time. Take an informational Sabbath.
It’s more than just a digital detox.
The Information Age
We want to know.
Right now.
- What will happen if we don’t get the work contract?
- Will it wreck my phone to update to iOS 13?
- Is it going to rain Saturday?
- Does my granddaughter have RSV?
- Is this relationship in God’s will?
This is the age of information. We want knowledge quickly, easily, and accurately.
The first temptation still haunts us today. We want to know everything we can know, just as Eve wanted fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6).
- Uncertainty makes us anxious. So we don’t let up until we know more.
- We are afraid of being in the dark. So we flick on as many lights as we can.
- We don’t want to appear stupid. So we put in hours of research until we’re worn out.
Are we trying to be our own gods? Thank God for Google. Right?
Search Overload
We definitely need information, of course.
We have to know things to function well. God wants us to make wise choices based on rational decisions. We need Christian scientists, teachers, nurses, business owners, therapists, theologians, etc. Knowledge helps us survive. It makes our lives better.
But can our “need to know” become unhealthy?
Yes.
Any of us can become information junkies, addicted to the next hit of knowledge. We can be misled into a false sense of security when we think we know it all. We can make poor decisions when we think we’re in total control.
And most dangerous of all, we can think, “Who needs God?” when we have so many sources of knowledge.
We know we have a problem when we ask Siri more than we ask God.
Yes, we do thank God for the amazing tools He’s given us in this century. Google and other search engines are such time-savers, giving us information we need or at least pointing us in the right direction.
But it’s the quantity and dependence that can swamp us. In these times of fast news, trying to keep up with everything is like drinking from the proverbial firehose. More information is available than we can handle. It comes to us faster than we have the ability to take in.
What can God teach us when we’re already worn out from trying to learn more, more, more, all the time?
Take an Informational Sabbath
Just as God directed His people in the Old Testament to take a Sabbath rest, we can benefit from a regular Sabbath, too.
While the Jews took a weekly Sabbath from anything considered work, our Sabbath choices might look different today.
Many still choose to do no major work one day a week. Others may take a week’s fast from all social media. Or unplug periodically from all technology. (There are apps like Mute for your digital detox goals, offline vacation B&B’s, and even technology rehab facilities to help you break internet addictions.)
Because of our addiction to gathering more and more information, maybe we need an occasional informational sabbath. Not just from Google, but a break from our need-to-know in general.
When we hunger for knowledge more than we hunger for God, we need to take a step back. Being smart is good, but being sanctified is better.
- Rest your brain so your heart can rejoice in Christ.
I grew up in a head-oriented faith tradition, but I learned in adulthood there is great delight and value in also releasing my heart to worship Christ. Love God with more than your mind: also include your heart and soul (Matthew 22:37). - Periodically set down the studying so you can just sit with Jesus.
Sometimes we need to set down even our Bibles so we can soak in Jesus more directly (John 5:39-40). Worship Him. Talk with Him. Listen to Him. Knowing about God and knowing God can be two different things. Make time for both. - Give knowledge some time to digest.
Knowledge isn’t the same thing as wisdom. Just as we need time in between meals for our food to digest, let God use time to turn what you already know into wisdom, before you haul in another pile of information (Lamentations 3:25).
We can grow our faith by trusting God in sabbatical breaks.
In an informational Sabbath, we can release our desire to constantly know more and always be right. We can let go of our quest for power and our need to stay in control. We can make peace with uncertainty and our fear of the unknown.
Because, in the stillness, we can remember that God already knows what was, what is, and what it to come.
Less Google, More God
So click off Google now and again. During your Sabbath break, trust God to let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it.
God created us to stop for breaths. He doesn’t expect us to keep learning 24 hours a day. He knows we’re happier (and smarter!) when we take a Sabbath rest in Him instead of trying to do everything on our own.
We can never know enough to be good enough on our own. Our brains are finite. His is infinite. We can’t think our way into heaven.
Who we know matters more than what we know.
Keep learning, but remember that learning is not a goal in itself. Changing into the image of Christ is.
Knowledge by itself does not save us. It leads us to the One who can: Christ the living Truth (John 8:32).
Thankfully we don’t have to figure everything out. God already has. He knows it all. And we know Him.
That’s what we most need to know.
Read More:
- Series – Lord of the Sabbath
See all the posts in our Sabbath series - A Daily Dose to Overcome Anxiety
God gave them a daily dose of manna for their journey. He gives us a daily dose of grace for ours. - 3 Things to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
Learn 3 things you can do when you just don’t know what to do. Grow your faith even when you’re uncertain.
Are you an information hoarder? What do you wish God would tell you right now? How do you make peace with not knowing? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
I learned this when we went to Alaska Lisa. I purposely did not pay for wifi on the cruise. Not only was it expensive i wanted to exist without the constant barrage of stuff. Only when we got off at Ketchikan and Skagway did we have an internet access and that was only to check my email to see if I needed to know anything back home. it was glorious! i even had my wife’s attention without FB constantly being accessed. A sabbath is needed for sure.
Glad that it was a glorious break, Bill. We can forget what life was like before internet. While I don’t want to go back to no internet, I do think these kinds of breaks you took are so beneficial. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with this.
Lisa! I loved reading these words (and seeing you here!) This was so good: “Give yourself a break from having to know all the things, all the time. Take an informational Sabbath.”
I get so tired of being the one in the family that has to know all the things. Your permission to take a break is exactly what I need!
I am that person in our marriage, Rebecca, so I get where you’re coming from. I look up directions, stats, Wikipedia articles, etc. :) This lesson is pointed to myself: take a break from having to know!
This is such an important topic!
The quest for information can easily become an addiction.
Thanks you for putting it all together so well.
Less google more God – Yes, Please!
Glad this hit home with you, too. It’s a lesson I need. It’s hard for me to leave a question open if I can close it by searching for the answer. But sometimes God wants me to just let it go and live in faith in the mystery.
This is one time that I could read and smile because God has been dealing with me about this very subject! Incredible…but then He IS amazing, yes? What I am finding in my less Google and more God Sabbath is that all of those things I thought I HAD to know really weren’t nearly as important as I thought. And above that, my time of fellowship with the Lord is so much richer. This is something He’s not calling me to just have a brief break here and there, but it is a lifetime thing. Seeing the rewards from this just gives me more of a desire to remain obedient to what He is asking of me. Thanks so much, Lisa, for this great post!
I’m always glad to hear how you and God are walking together, Dianna, so I’m so encouraged by your experience with this already. I’m not very good at practicing it. It helps me to know others are conquering it by God’s grace. Thank you, friend! I love hearing from you.
Less Google and more God – I absolutely love this, Lisa, and I couldn’t agree with you more! We need to consciously step away from tech, striving to know more and more, and learn to simply be still and rest in Jesus. He has our backs in all things, and will transform our knowledge into wisdom if we let Him.
Blessings!
Be still and know. Yes, that’s a verse that I need to keep front and center. Thanks for these words, Martha. It’s so important that we remind each other that God has our backs!
This is a good idea that I should consider. I do notice that when I am stressed one way I respond is searching for information about anything and everything. I think it is an attempt to gain control, but it would be much better to let go of that and hand it over to God instead.
Yes, I do the same thing, Lesley. I was stressed this week about a medical issue, and Google is always there to fuel my worries, when there was absolutely nothing I could do about the situation except trust others with the treatment, and trust God with all the people receiving and giving care.
“We know we have a problem when we ask Siri more than we ask God.”
That’ll preach, sister!!! It also reminds me that it’s all about moderation and balance… which I’ve never been very good at.
But thanks for the reminder. It was an amazing and powerful one!
We can work humility into this, too, Floyd. When we humble ourselves under God’s knowledge instead of our own, we have much more peace.
I am greedy like this. I had ever thought of linking it to the first temptation. I certainly would not have stopped with one apple. I have been rediscovering the pleasures of reading a real book (thanks to you!) and social media is less attractive in comparison, but a sabbath from email would be a treat. Talking with my Dad one way I think of religion is as an attitude to the unknown (so Einstein could call himself religious; Wittgenstein could say, “I cannot help seeing every problem from a religious point of view”). Lovely post.
I would have wanted the whole tree, too, David. :( I have a weakness for wanting more, more, more knowledge. (If you follow the Enneagram structure, it’s a typical trait for those who identify with Type Five, which is me.) Greedy for info. But for spiritual growth I work on letting go more often and trusting when I don’t *have* to have the info. It doesn’t mean we forgo trying to learn things, but just not rely on it for everything. Interesting quote! Thanks for sharing that.
Love this title! I took an enforced information break when we were in Spain recently and loved it. It does increase our stress to be connected 24/7. How much better to be connected to God 24/7!
How wonderful that you got such an extended technological break during your walk in Spain. I know that was an incredible experience. It opens up time for more connection to God!
So good, Lisa. We are obsessed with knowledge. Even knowing about things that don’t actually matter… 😂 Thanks for the reminder to take breaks and to rely on God rather than Google! Stopping by from #faithnfriends
Yes, I find myself looking up some of the most trivial things. Sometimes I catch myself doing it and just have to laugh at myself. Why do I care which TV show this actor was in, back in the 1990s? :) God, save me from myself.