Pause: Take a moment and think of a time when you felt really left out. Maybe it was a time that your friends went to the movies without you? Or maybe you did not make the grade to get into the class you wanted? If you feel like you are the only one who has experienced “FOMO”, you aren’t, we have all been there.
Carpe Diem. This term comes from the Latin language to convey the idea of “Seize the Day”. The Roman poet Horace used this term in his literary work Odes, to promote his idea: because you do not want to miss out on life, you should enact every action possible every day to make sure you get the most out of it.
This idea has survived centuries and comes about today in mantras like, “You Only Live Once” and “Fear of Missing Out”. This pressure to seize the day can be especially felt as we are constantly exposed to the pressure to be dialed into everything from social media to social events. The everyday worries of “Did I miss out on not getting to go to my friends hangout?” and “If I’m not involved in this activity, I won’t get into my top college”. These worries and fears are extremely powerful right now because of the Coronavirus Quarantine. Now these questions have turned into, “What if I miss an entire Baseball season?”, “What if I can’t act in the school play I was looking forward to?”, or “What if I miss Senior Prom and Graduation?”. If you do end up missing these big life milestones and opportunities, that will be such a big disappointment and the reality that life is unfair will be evident. We worry what our lives will be without these planned moments and the sadness can start to well up. It is disappointing and sad that we might, have, or will miss these plans. However, fortunately for us as believers, we have a hope and a promise that is found in Scripture, that can help us push through these life disappointments.
The story that comes to mind in Scripture, when discussing the fear of missing out is the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. You see, Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob who had twelve sons in total. Joseph was very gifted and had so much potential to be great, something his brothers were aware of. He was blessed with the ability of being able to interpret dreams. He told his brothers about these dreams including the one where “the sun, the moon and eleven stars (his brothers) were bowing down to me (Joseph)” Genesis 37:9. His brothers grew spiteful towards him for these things and planned his demise. Before long Joseph, who had all this potential and a full life ahead of him was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.
Pause: Now put yourself into Joseph’s shoes? How would you feel? Would you feel betrayed by your brothers and by God? How could your own family do this to you? How could God who gives you dreams that say you are chosen, do this to you? Would you feel angry and confused that you are now going to miss out on the life you felt promised to? Joseph probably had not only these feelings, but maybe more. However, Joseph did not get caught in his emotions, but kept his trust in the Lord.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a higher up in the Egyptian Pharaoh's court. Joseph found favor in Potiphar’s sight and started again onto the fast track to success. Things started to look like they were making sense. Joseph is rising in the ranks of Potiphar’s household which lines up with his dream from God. However one fateful night, “Potiphar’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said “Lie with me”. But Joseph refused” Genesis 39:7-8. The wife then went to Potiphar and falsely accused Joseph. Despite doing everything in his power to do right, Joseph ended up finding himself in prison all alone again with his emotions and trust in the Lord.
Pause: This now makes two times when Joseph seemed to have his life in control and at the peak of it all went crashing down. Again, how would you feel if you were Joseph? All of this is unfair. No matter what Joseph did, he lost these amazing opportunities because of others actions and God allowed this. I am sure Joseph struggled with doubts and bitterness but even through this he was trusting in the Lord.
Joseph spent years in prison feeling forgotten. There was even a moment when Joseph thought he would be able to get out of prison and once again he was forgotten. However, one day the Pharaoh had a strange dream that no one could interpret. Word got to the Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret dreams, so Joseph was called upon. Joseph correctly predicted seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine through the Pharaoh’s dream. Since they were able to come up with a solution because of Joseph, the Pharaoh placed him in a position of high power.
Pause: Think again about that moment you felt left out. Did you get to look back at it after some time passed? Did you eventually see why it had to be that way? For me, I was a Senior in High School, and for the past year I had my sights set on a prestigious University. I visited the school, wrote the essays, participated in interviews, completed the whole application process. After all of this hard work, I was told I could not attend because of financial reasons. This was crushing to me at the time, but fast forward four years later, and I saw why the Lord had led me to another school. If I hadn’t gone to the school I ended up at, I would have never made the friends I did, been given the opportunities I’d been given, or grown in my faith the way I was able to by trusting in the Lord.
Two years into the famine, Joseph’s brothers appeared, hoping to receive some of the food the Egyptians had stored. Joseph, saw the change in heart of his brothers and after some trickery of his own, he revealed to his brothers that he was in fact their Joseph. He forgave them, and said “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today” Genesis 50:20.
Joseph struggled with a gamut of emotions during his life and like Joseph it is okay for us to feel disappointed and sad that we are missing out on important things in this time of quarantine. But in the end, Joseph realized that the Lord had used everything bad in his life for good. You see, if Joseph hadn’t been sold into slavery and thrown into prison, thousands of people including his family would have starved to death, but through the Lord’s plan, even though at times it seemed impossible, unfair, and hard, Joseph was able save all of these people.
Guaranteed, Joseph did not see his life turning out like that. When he was 17, he probably had this planned out hope for what his life would look like. Thousands of years later, we have that same plan. Play sports, act in plays, make good grades, go to prom, graduate high school, go to college, get a job, and many other things. Now, even though we aren’t being put in prison or sold by our siblings, our plans have been shaken up by this “Coronavirus Pandemic”, but just like in the case of Joseph, the Lord will use this bad disruption in your life for good. You might not see it for a long time or even on this side of heaven, but the Lord’s plan is sovereign over you and was made before you were even born.
Joel 2:25 says, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God”. In this verse, Joel is prophesying to the Nation of Israel that the Lord isn’t promising that their journey is going to be easy or successful, but he is promising that everything that is unjust or done wrong will eventually be made right by Him. So yes, you might miss an entire sports season, not get to act in a play, or miss walking for graduation, but in the scheme of eternity, the Lord’s plan for you is so much better even when it doesn’t seem evident.`
Pause: When so many things seem to be going wrong in this world right now, hold on to that promise made to you by the creator of all things. He will NOT lead you astray.
