Before the advent of ChatGPT, this is how I understand "digital distress":
It is a term, which refers to the anxiety of marketers due to the growing complexity of the world. This is the kind of feeling that a marketer thinks that he is "falling behind" or that he always needs to be updated with the most recent event in the market, and he just cannot keep up with it.
On a personal level, "digital distress" has a different meaning. In the article, Warning: Why Digital Distress is Destroying Your Family published on September 18, 2013, "digital distress" refers to being "hyper-connected" and to the flooding of "endless stream of emails, texts, messages, posts, status updates, Instagrams, Tweets, etc." (Note: I was trying to find the link to this article but I could not find it).
Family time, meals, and concentration are constantly interrupted, work never really ends, we have more to do than we are capable of doing, the allure of the screen is destroying meaningful family time and we feel less and less connected and more and more distracted, distressed and depressed."
As a result, the family relationship suffers.
Now with the aid of chatbot, the understanding of the term is more comprehensive. Though the term is not widely recognized in the field of mental health, it could refer to the psychological or emotional discomfort, stress, or anxiety that individuals may experience as a result of their interactions with digital technologies, social media, or the online world. As such, digital distress might encompass various issues, including social media anxiety, cyberbullying, information overload, FOMO, digital addiction, privacy concerns, and online harassment and hate speech. These issues are not mutually exclusive and can often overlap.
Definition of Terms
Though the experience of "digital distress" is alien to the Bible, the experience of pain and anxiety caused by a distressed mind and emotion is an issue that is common to man despite living in a different generation.
In Hebrew, the original word is רָעַע (transliteration: ra'a'; phonetic sound: ra-e), which means "to be sad, to be broken."
In Hangeul, the word "distress" has at least five range of meanings: 고통 (kot-tong) - pain, affliction, misery, torment, distress; 고뇌 (go-ne) - agony, distress; 빈곤 (pin-gon) - indigence, want, poorness, distress; 고난 (konan) - hardship, distress, oppression, and; 동산 압류 (dongsan-namyu) - distress (Note: Since I first shared this article with a Korean audience, I would like to retain the range of meanings in Hangeul. Before I delivered this message, I asked the opinion of a native speaker if my study was accurate. )
In English, though there are seven ranges of meanings, I just want to focus on only one:
great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble.
In this article, based on the story taken from Genesis 21 verses 8 to 21, I would like to talk about the kind of distress that Abraham experienced when his wife told him to get rid of his son, Ishmael. Moreover, I also want to relate this truth to modern life facing so much distress. What are we supposed to do when we are in distress?
In times of distress, the word of God provides light.
In our narrative, the word distress is used twice. In NIV, you can read them in verses 11 and 12:
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman.
In KJV, the word was grievous:
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
So taking these two Bible translations, we see that the feeling Abraham at that time resulting from Sarah's word about getting rid of Hagar and Ishmael was one of great distress or grief "because it concerned his son."
As a loving, responsible, and god-fearing father, Abraham was worried about the future of his son. This is a normal feeling for fathers. They do the best they can to secure their children's future.
However, in the case of Abraham, he had to make a choice between Ishmael and Isaac for his decision would affect his covenant with God. Abraham didn't know what to do.
That's the natural result of distress, you become afraid, paralyzed, confused, and inactive. But the good thing is that the word of God gives light to your situation as it did in Abraham's situation. The word of God removes your confusion and gives you the ability to see the situation clearly so you will know the necessary actions to take. This is exactly what happened in the case of Abraham. The word of God gave him light when his mind was darkened by sadness and grief. God told him the specific actions to take.
What causes you distress? Are they your debts? Is it the economic situation? Is it your family relationship? Are they your studies? Or is it a concern about your future?
Remember that when you are in distress, it seems that everything is so dark and you cannot see light at the end of the tunnel. It seems that you have no strength to do the right thing. But once the word of God gives light to your situation, everything becomes clear, and then you begin to see what action steps you are supposed to take. The word of God gives you hope and makes you active once again.
In times of distress, your proper response is to trust the word of God alone.
There are several things that I think are worthy of our attention in this story such as Ismael's act of mocking Isaac, the distress caused by correcting a past mistake, the pain of separation, and the sovereignty of God over a household.
Ishmael was too young to consider the consequences of his action. He never thought that his action would result in the decision for Sarah to drive him and his mother away from his father.
Another thing we need to notice is that the birth of Ishmael was a result of past mistakes when Abraham listened to his wife. But despite the mistake, of course, Abraham enjoyed the experience of having his firstborn son. However, after several years such a mistake still haunted him. And at this time, it caused him distress.
Closely connected to this is the pain of separation. Imagine the separation between a father and a son. That's very difficult on both their parts. I could not imagine the pain in the hearts of both Abraham and Ishmael. There was no assurance that they could see each other again.
And finally, the truth that God is sovereign in Abraham's household, and this is best displayed when Abraham obeyed the word of the Lord. Despite that it was painful for him to separate from his son, he still listened to the word of the Lord. This only shows that Abraham completely trusted the Lord. He trusted the Lord's word and obeyed though it would be painful on his part.
It is easier to obey God when we see the direct benefit of what he is telling us. But when God asks something painful on our part, that's the time we struggle to obey. It is only the assurance of his abundant grace that would enable us to obey him still despite what he is asking is too difficult on our part.
In times of distress, trust in God's word replaces distress with peace.
Sarah told Abraham:
Ishmael will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.
This distressed Abraham greatly. This would mean that a life of poverty awaits his son. So Abraham was worried and afraid for his son's future. He did not want that to happen. That was his fear.
The Lord promised him that Ishmael would become a great nation. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham. God accompanied Ishmael. "God was with the boy as he grew up." Abraham's fear did not happen.
Someone defines F E A R as:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real
I think this definition appropriately describes fear. Our fear is related to some action or some event that may or may not happen in the future. As a result of such fear, we get paralyzed, we get inactive, and we get confused. But in reality, we are not sure whether such fear will happen to us or not. Since this is the case, the bad thing about fear is that it paralyzes us at PRESENT for things that we are not sure will take place in the FUTURE.
This is especially true in several cases. People for instance who always listen to bad news tend to live in fear. Hearing about the increasing crime rate tends to develop a spirit of suspicion about people that surround you. Yes, we live in a sin-laden world, and we need to be always vigilant. However, divorced from a complete trust in God's sovereignty, such vigilance could deteriorate into hopelessness and depression.
People who suffer emotional setbacks live in fear and find it difficult to trust again. As a result, they just decide to live in isolation to protect themselves from being hurt again.
Still, many other people live in fear. People who lost their jobs, people who sunk into huge debts, and entrepreneurs whose businesses went bankrupt are prone to live in fear about their future and the future of their families. They may conclude that there is no hope in their financial situation. And some would even resort to ending their lives as a way of escape. But the fact is, there is always hope as long as we are alive and we keep on trusting God. Instead of being afraid, of living in fear, we should rather keep trusting God and his word. Such trust will drive away fear, and God will replace it with peace.
Conclusion
In times of distress, God's word provides light and therefore we must trust the word of God. Such trust displaces fear, sadness, and distress. God replaced it with peace that this world cannot understand and cannot give. Only the grace of God can give us such peace.