This Lenton season, our church is walking together through a 40-day digital reset (or as some of us affectionately call it, our “digital detox”). We have had about a month-long lead-up to this reset, so we have had quite some time to think about what this would look like for each of us. I know some who are going cold turkey and refraining from any and all screens (television, phone, computer during non-work hours, etc.) and some who planned to delete the app on which they spend the most time. As we were pondering all of the ways we could cut tech from our lives, my favorite benchmark/line was:

“Ask yourself, ‘What tech is using me as a tool and what am I using as a tool?’”

What a profound question to ask as I look at the countless distractions in my life – many of them being tech. How much am I being used as a tool?

As I prepared to kick off my detox and examined what needed to be stripped away (or rather what was using me as a tool), I started by challenging myself with what I truly need to function effectively each day. After all, less than 20 years ago, I had none of what was in my hands and little of what was on the screen in front of me. So, what do I truly “need” each day on this little rectangular device that demands so much of my attention?

Putting on a new lens and looking at my phone as a tool, I sorted my apps and have kept only the ones I use as tools on my home screen. For instance, one weather app (I have nine of them and regularly check 4…I know, I know…), a fitness app I regularly use, our family budget app, my calendar, you get the point. Apps I use as tools or for my daily work.

Some other things from which I decided to “reset” (or detox!):

• Apps also no longer on my home screen include social media. Since I’ve spent mindless hours scrolling through reels, I decided I needed to break from that for these 40 days, except for posting/sharing Good Word Project and setting a timer for three minutes a day during work hours only to briefly check client pages or see if I am tagged.
• I also feel the need to multitask and incessantly look at my email. So, I’m checking my e-mail during work hours only. And I have an alarm set for 9:00 pm, when my phone needs to be put down and plugged in, helping to eliminate temptation.
• One final big reset. My phone gets put away and out of reach in my car. It’s embarrassing how often I pick it up while driving, and it’s 100% unnecessary.

Vulnerability alert. About two years ago, I was similarly convicted in this space, and I wrote about it in a blog titled “I’m Too Busy for You Today” (linked here) and included a screenshot of my embarrassing 6 hours and 14 minutes of average screen time per day that week. At the time, I was deeply convicted, so I made and executed plans. I improved. I felt good about how I was redirecting my time, fixing my eyes on Him and those around me instead of on the screen in front of me. Until I wasn’t. Sadly, I fell right back into old practice almost as quickly as I broke out of it. And looking at my average screen time leading up to this detox, I’ll give you one guess what it was…6+ hours. I was right back where I started and then some. Needless to say, I have been disappointed and frustrated with myself for falling prey to what the enemy so desperately wants to use to get me to fall away from the One and ones I should be drawing near to.

So, enough is enough. When and how do I finally reverse the trend?

As this digital reset was encouraged over the past month via messages and promotion through our church, I approached it with even more anticipation. Because I know I have a problem that needs to be fixed and redeemed. How do I know? Because answering yes to these questions illuminates how much of my relationship with my phone is me being used as a tool rather than me using it as a tool.

• Have you ever sat down to check social media for “just a few minutes,” only to find yourself realizing 45 minutes have passed by?
• Do you feel like you need to read and respond to text messages the minute they *ding* on your phone? Clear any new email messages that come your way?
• Have you ever felt the need to click on and clear out each notification?
• Have you ever looked at your phone midway through a conversation with another person or been so distracted by the buzzing that you missed what they were sharing with you?
• Do you have streaks you refuse to lose? (Little known secret – there is no prize for those, even if you have a 450-day streak on Duolingo!)

So, last Wednesday, I embarked on this digital detox journey with great hope. My phone wallpaper now dons Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

I’m asking myself each day:

What am I missing by not being on my phone?

What am I seeing because I’m not on my phone?

The answers to the latter are much sweeter and more abundant. My relationship with the Lord, my loved ones, life, and everything I’m surrounded with is enough. I don’t need a phone boost to fill any holes. Because everything He offers me in this world is enough. In2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus affirms, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I wanted to revisit what God led me to when I wrote about this misalignment of priorities the first time. I’m sharing it again below as a sweet reminder to put Him first, not my devices.I’m believing the fruit from this digital detox will be so sweet that I will not desire to go right back to where I started from again. I’m believing and praying He will help me win this battle against the grips of this tool and help me put it back in its right place – a tool to be used sparingly, for good, as a tool.

From “I’m Too Busy for You Today”:

Enough is enough. That’s my anthem during these 40 days of this digital reset. It’s the perfect anthem to fuel my detox.

If there are things that grip you and/or distract you from what God has for you, please join me in praying this prayer.

Lord, thank You that You are infinitely greater than anything in this world that vies for our attention. Thank You for using Your people to speak truth and shine light into our lives. I ask that You please help me to loosen my grip on my device and open my hands and mind to what You have for me. Please remove from me the desire to pick up my phone, click on apps, and scroll. I ask that you replace that with a desire to be less connected to the screen in my face and more connected to You and those around me. I know my true joy and contentment are found in You. Enough is enough with the distractions around me. You are enough. I ask all of this in Your Son’s name, Amen.