Broken? Betrayed? Abandoned? - Is This You?

There are days when I feel like nothing is going my way. Do you ever feel like that? We get frustrated with life and we feel like the whole world has left us behind. If that is you, take heart. There are people in this world who are going through far worse things than us.

I don't mean to be mean, but there is definitely a tendency, no, a desire, deep within us to have the world to take pity on us and our current situation . . . whatever it is. We have a need, I think, to be significant or noticed in some way, so we can find some meaning in our lives. Social media has got to be the number one place where people unload all their built up drama and put on display everything "we" find important. Do you know what that's called? Jesus spoke against it many times in His teachings. It's called pride.

"3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." - Philippians 2:3

There is a story in the Old Testament book of Genesis that speaks about someone who was REALLY oppressed. High school drama pails compared to what THIS guy went through. Instead there was hatred, attempted murder, abandonment, being sold into slavery, falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison. How do those things compare to your common everyday high school drama? This is the story of Joseph.

"3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him." - Genesis 37:3-4

If you are discouraged lately or feeling betrayed, persecuted and alone, there is great encouragement we can take from the example of Joseph's life. The story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is one that is filled with lies, deceit, hatred and betrayal. But is also filled with encouragement, honor, justice and mercy. And incredible, unconditional love. If one looks closely and meditates of this story and its meaning, it is easy to see a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Christ, in Joseph. I encourage you to read it.

A friend of mine was telling me about a song he was playing repeatedly. The lyrics seemed to fit the story of Joseph. What do YOU think?

"Surrender"

I am tired

I am broken

Unsure at every turn

Though You told me where to go

I lost the road

Been a while since I have heard You

And doubts are creeping in

How can I continue walking on my own?

I need to know you’re here

With me

Cause I become a desperate soul

When Your unfailing love feels far

I need to know You won’t let go

Through it all

You can have my broken heart

Everything that’s left in me

And I will surrender

Surrender, surrender

Your promises feel distant

Though I’ve followed them this far

What is there left to hold on to

When You’re gone?

And it’s hard to keep on breathing

As the question tears my heart

What if I am left to fight this on my own?

I’ve seen the way You love me

I’ve heard the things You say

I’ve felt the way You held me in Your arms

Surrender - Nine Lashes

Selfie

"19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:19-21

 

Well, did you hear? Oxford Dictionary has announced its Word of the Year for 2013. It's "selfie!" (Funny, my spell-checker doesn't recognize the word, yet it seems to be in use practically everywhere!)

 

A selfie is a self portrait, a picture taken of one's self. Although, I think you can have more than one person in a selfie. It seems the name comes from the act of taking a picture yourself, no matter HOW many people are in it.

 

On a related note, the most photographed room in a typical home seems to be the bathroom - a popular place to take selfies. You see you can either take selfies by pointing the camera at yourself or taking a picture of your reflection in the bathroom mirror.

 

While I was on Facebook a couple months ago I read an interesting comment from an observant young lady. She said, "I love how people crop the top of their heads off so we can see their boobs." The truth of that bit of sarcasm was revealed a short while later and I scrolled down to find a selfie of a young friend with the top of her head cropped off so she could make some middle school boys day.

 

We as a society have become addicted to ourselves. Even our president is getting into the act, much to the dismay of his wife, Michelle. The three immature heads of state at the left are taking a selfie. The reason Michelle is so upset is that her husband and his friends chose to take their selfie during Nelson Mandela's funeral. Classy. That is just SO incredibly wrong, words cannot due it justice.

Today's society is enamored with itself. We are all stars of our own little movies and everyone else is our supporting cast. It's all about us. We've never known otherwise because it has ALWAYS been about us. Even Facebook posts about other people in our lives are really about us because WE made the posts. And everyone else feeds off each other. Everybody else's posts are really all about me because they are just players in MY life. I hope you can taste the sarcasm.

In reality, all the Facebook and Twitter and Pintrest accounts, they're all about us, the things WE want to say, the things WE like. Even this blog is a selfie of sorts. It IS all about MY life and where I see God working in MY world.

So what should we do? Terminate our Facebook accounts? I've thought about it on more than one occasion. I probably will do it one day - pull the plug on the whole social media thing. But from this day forward I have decided to make a pledge.

I am going to keep track of my computer time, my social media time, and make sure I spend MORE time reading God's Word or spending time in prayer. Maybe it would be more profitable to spend time with others, spreading the Gospel or serving others in my community than it is updating my status. One thing is for sure. Jesus was not "all about Himself." He was all about God and doing His Father's will. He was all about spreading his message of sin, repentance and forgiveness through our belief in Him to ALL nations and we, quite honestly, should be doing the same.

Are we, as Christians, denying The Cross every time we post something about ourselves? Every time we take a selfie? Think about it. God is.

 "And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23

Is your Facebook Picture a Selfie by Jimmy Kimmel