My Worst Fear…FOMO

I’m at that age where it’s hard to keep up with all the newfangled terminology and text lingo – idk, imo, icymi, iso, brb, ftw. So. Many. Abbreviations. I often ignore them. But when I started to see a new abbreviation all over the internet and social media a couple of years ago, I looked it up. FoMO. Yeah, I’m slow to the game. The term has been around since 2004.

Fear of Missing Out. (I assume y’all are already familiar with the term but if not, go ahead and look it up.)

At the risk of being a self-diagnosing hypochondriac, I claimed it immediately. This is it. My greatest fear. FoMO.

If you’ve been following my blog for more than a day you probably already know that I’ve had no shortage of fears.

Like FOMPDAICFMH – that’s fear of my phone dying and I can’t find my way home. ‘Cause without google maps or The Silver Fox, I’m perpetually lost. Yes, I’m that directionally challenged.

I also suffer from FOIHAMUIHAINTGTHBN! It’s pretty much a daily terror and occasionally prevents me from going on a walk. Fear of I have a mile until I’m Home and I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM NOW! My lovely, encouraging daughter told me to just suck it up and buy some Depends. Now I have FTMDLIGTBCS…BM. Fear that my daughter’s life is going to be cut short…by me.

And as long as I’m getting all transparent here, I might as well acknowledge I have AFTYWLM. A fear that you won’t like me. Also known as FOR, fear of rejection. In the past, it has been a crippling fear. One that prevented me from writing, from sharing, from trying new things. Sometimes when fear spoke to me it sounded like “If they REALLY knew you, they wouldn’t like you, so don’t let them get too close.”

Or “If you try that new thing, you are going to fail and everyone is going to laugh at you.”

Or “if you write about Jesus, people are going to think you are a freak, a holy-roller, or religious nut.” (The truth is I’m just nuts and it has nothing to do with religion. But I digress.)

Fortunately my WORST fear – the fear of missing out – overrides all these other fears. Because when I speak of my FOMO, I’m talking about the fear of missing out on what God has planned for me.

There’s just nothing quite like obeying what the Holy Spirit calls you to. Obedience brings peace deep in the soul. Obedience brings “my best life.” Isaiah 1:19 NASB says:

So all of my other fears – especially the fear of being rejected, or disliked – pale in comparison to the glorious fear of missing out on God’s best for me, in the land where He has placed me, in this time where He has placed me.

I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength – though I do not yet love Him perfectly – and I’m not going to be afraid to share that love in the hopes that you, too, will find your best life in Christ. It really is living in abundance.

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Your Turn What are YOUR greatest fears? Do they hinder you in any way? What would happen if you take them out (even speaking them out loud makes them lose their power), examine them, and replace them with a greater truth?

The Word says in Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom should I dread?

Praying you live fearlessly and abundantly!

Marie