It can give you directions, forecast the weather, and help you envision the perfect summer outfit. But there are some things your iPhone just can’t do. Here are five of them.
- Your iPhone can’t give you lasting comfort.
You’re sad. You’re stressed. You’re bored. You just need a little comfort. So you whip out your iPhone and slide the little bar on your home screen. And you know what? You feel better! For a little while. But soon enough those uncomfortable emotions are back and you are forced to keep clicking to try to soothe the ache.
There’s a better source of comfort.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God (Isaiah 40:1).
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).
The next time you crave comfort, put down the phone and run to Jesus. He is the Master Comforter!
2. Your iPhone can’t give you victory over sin.
Are you facing a temptation? To lie? To gossip? To compromise in the area of purity? Sorry, your iPhone can’t help you there. But check out Hebrews 2:18:
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Has your iPhone experienced victory over temptation? Nope. But Jesus has! When you are tempted, avoid the temptation (see what I did there?) to run to your phone for a distraction. Instead run to Jesus for victory!
3. Your iPhone can’t make you a better you.
No amount of staring at cute outfits on Pinterest can give you great style or a killer wardrobe. No amount of looking at dreamy beach vacation pictures can actually get sand between your toes. No amount of obsessing over clicks, likes, and heart eyes can actually make you popular. Our iPhones deliver the illusion of a better version of us straight to our eyeballs every day, but they can’t actually change us. Only God can do that!
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Only Christ can take the old you and transform it into the new you. Look to Him for the transformation you crave.
4. Your iPhone can’t give you purpose.
Have you noticed how seeing all those pictures of other people doing “big” things for God makes you feel sort of miserable? Is it possible that they’re out there doing something God never asked you to do? I understand we live in the era of YouTube stars and famous food bloggers, but you were created for so much more!
I love how the Westminster Catechism sums it up:
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”
Can you glorify God without your iStuff? You betcha! Can you enjoy Him without wifi? Yes, again! You were created for an eternal purpose that has nothing to do with technology. Glorifying and enjoying God frees you to see what others are doing for the kingdom with excitement not self-criticism.
5. Your iPhone can’t accept you.
Confession: I like thumbs up, likes, heart eyes, shares, and retweets as much as the next gal, but God helps me see them for what they really are—an illusion. Just because someone liked something I wrote doesn’t mean they actually like me; in fact, they probably don’t even know me. And just because something goes viral doesn’t mean I’m accepted.
I was made for more than the hollow accolades the Internet occasionally sends my way. I want to be fully known, don’t you? I long to be truly accepted. Here’s how.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Romans 15:7).
Run to the Right Source
Your iPhone can’t give you lasting comfort. Jesus can.
Your iPhone can’t give you victory over sin. Jesus can.
Your iPhone can’t make you a better you. Jesus can.
Your iPhone can’t give you purpose. Jesus can.
(Are you noticing a pattern here?)
Your iPhone can’t accept you. Jesus can.
By Erin Davis
