There seems to be a never ending flow of information, especially by way of social media, about people's lives. With just a few clicks of a button, we can see what someone has been up to for the last five years, discover who they hang out with, and what sorts of new toys and items have been purchased and enjoyed. With Instagram and Facebook, we can see anything from how amazing someone's husband is to what someone fed their cat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and how said cat reacted (the latter sort of information I choose to "hide"). ;) I can go on and on about all the "novelties" we can view on social media, but chances are, if you are reading this blog, you already are quite familiar.
What I have been challenged in lately is to think about what I don't see. What I am not (usually) seeing on Instagram and Facebook are people's hearts. While people can post a scripture verse, something they are thankful for, a struggle, or even a vent, these are just slight glimpses of what might be going on deep inside someone's heart. Often times, we see only the "good" things in people's lives, and have no idea what the background to those good things are. What about the friend who posts a status about her wonderful husband who later tells me the heart behind it was to honor him after being hurt by him, in effort to show grace and forgiveness? Or the person who posts 3984203 selfies a day and is radiating confidence in each picture...yet is dying of self-hate and loneliness on the inside? Or the pictures of a new house and new car that a friend's husband bought her...while, not posted in those pictures are her crumbling marriage? Or a scripture/quote full of hope and joy that is the end result of working through a painful breakup?
Finally, what about you? do you feel that you are alone in your struggles when you scroll through the ever-loving plethora of highly informative Facebook status'? I sometimes do. I forget that behind a few edited photos and well-edited status' there is much more going on. While it can be fun and sometimes encouraging even to browse people's "lives" over the web, there is danger in forgetting that there is so much more than what you are breezing through in five minutes. Danger in comparing your messed up, not put together, struggling life with someone else's "perfect" life. Danger in becoming discontent with what you have. Danger in wanting to fit in or be seen as someone, and because you see people's best foot forward, you only put your "happy" moments out there for people to view. Or, if you see someone complaining about something that seems so much smaller than the great, almost insurmountable mountain of grief you are facing, you might not share that grief with the public for fear of no one relating.
I am not hating on social media...rather, I want to see it as a fun supplement to knowing people, rather than the primary means. I have been challenged recently to not make assumptions about the entirety of a person's life based off of one status or picture. I want to pursue relationships, pursue hearts. I want to come out of myself, my selfish ambitions and quit falling into comparison/insecurity. I want to focus on blessing others, building them up, encouraging them in the faith, and being an example of one who has joy and happiness because she has Jesus. I realize I can't pursue in-depth relationships with all of my 982347834 friends on Facebook (yes, I'm that popular folks), but I can still spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to help me know who to pursue, how to bless them, and most of all, keep my heart in a right and healthy place so that I am open to and acting in laying myself down for the good of others.
I wanna KNOW you, yo.
So. That said...I'm going to go scrounge through my fridge for something to eat whilst trying not to think about the 234989348 drool-worthy pictures of all of your amazing breakfasts, lunches and dinners that someone fed to you in bed...with a vase of flowers on the side...and be thankful. ;)
Side note(s):
1. That last paragraph I just wrote? I kid.
2. So maybe I have a problem with exaggerating my numbers...
3. In all seriousness, if you are struggling with feeling unknown, misunderstood or alone, be encouraged by these verses:
Psalm 139:1-4
"Oh Lord you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all of my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Oh Lord, you know it all together."
1 Samuel 16:7
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart."
Ephesians 2:19
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God..."
Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
1 John 3:1
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
I pray the Lord grows my heart to live in these truths!
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