I’ve been reading the posts from people I follow on Twitter. Some of them are hilarious, but some of them make my soul wilt. As I was reading Tweets, I had the realization that Twitter for some people has become the place to complain in 140 characters or less. “This isn’t going right, UGH!” “I hate it when _____”, “WHY ME?!?!”
There is a pretty funny gif about a guy getting frustrated with his computer and than smashing his face on the keyboard, I think life does feel like this sometimes.
While there room for this, I had another thought: if someone took all of your Twitter or your Facebook statuses to get a snapshot of your life, what would they think about your life, lifestyle, and circumstances? If people knew you were a follower of Jesus and then read your Tweets, would they want to follow Him? Has He made any difference in your life? Has He given you anymore joy? The truth is: I totally get stuck in this trap too. I like to complain… in fact, I don’t just like it, I love it. Somehow it fulfills some depraved part of me to focus on what’s wrong.
I thought of Paul in the book of Philippians, who from prison (and some scholars believe he might very well be on death row), writes this from a prison cell, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (4:4)
Does this mean that we need to run around pretending like everything is good when things aren’t? Heck no. But this does mean that we don’t need nitpick life and complain about everything all the time. For this we turn to the second part of that passage: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (4:5-7)”
God is faithful, even for those little things that are annoying in life… like Prius drivers. #learnhowtodriveyourenviornmentallyfriendlycarandstoptryingtorunmeover, #silentdeath.
Have you decided that it’s already going to be a bad day? The Lord is near.
Have you decided that you’re going to let life suck your will to live? Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
God is good, all the time, and we can take that as #truth.
Steve Dang 