You think you know me? Don’t let Facebook fool you.~Matthew

​Let me share something that has been on my mind recently. Facebook is the only choice of social media that I use.  But I will say boldly that I only post pictures of my family and family life that I want people to see, what I want them to know about me, my family, my house, the ministry I am involved in, etc. I just don’t post a lot of pictures and posts about when things….are yucky. I don’t post pictures of the cat throwing up on our floor and stepping in it in my bare feet. Yuck, I mean who would want someone you invite over to your house to know that the cat throws up on the floor. I don’t post pictures of the state of cleanliness in my vehicle (it would scare many at times).  I don’t write posts about me screaming like a girl when I am surprised by a snake. I don’t write posts after I have yelled at my kids and have hurt their feelings. I don’t write posts when I have been angry, impatient, and selfish with my wife.

The point behind all this is that my family and I are not as spiffy as we may present ourselves on Facebook. We only post what we want others to see. Seriously. Facebook is a weird thing. I will even say I have a tendency to scroll and then look at all of the great posts from people I know and get down because I am not as cool, organized, well off, or “together” as much as them. I don’t usually remember that they don’t post the bad stuff much either. We let people see a minimum of bad stuff, in an effort to control what people perceive about us. It’s not just about Facebook, this is something we do in other parts of our lives, too.

My life is filled with mess ups. I have lots of weakness that I want to escape from. I want to hide them. My life isn’t “together” as some might think. My Facebook profile and feed don’t sum up my life.  I want you to know something though, even with all my weaknesses, imperfection, regrets, etc, that I keep hidden from Facebook, only sharing the posts that I want to share, I will say MY LIFE IS BETTER than I can ever share on Facebook because it’s mostly through my weaknesses and my own inability that I learn about God and His ways.  Those are the places I learn about His great value, care, and love for me. I learn that He upholds my family and His guidance is good even when I can’t make sense of what is going on around me when I feel surrounded by disappointment, discouragement, chaos, confusion, frustration, or failure.

I am challenged to share more of my weakness, maybe even on social media, not because I need to bring shame on myself, but to show others that that Lord is a good leader and that He helps us in weakness. He gets us through the dark times. He sustains His people and restores their souls. He teaches His people in their mess ups. When you are in the family of God, you can know that real value of His strength being made perfect in our weakness. 

I think other people out there have weaknesses they don’t want to admit. They are scared to say they don’t feel ok.  And, maybe if they admit their weaknesses, they will be like a frog getting dissected in science class. FAR TOO PAINFUL! Far too painful to talk about, to painful to expose.
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If we are in the family of God, the weaknesses are actually a part of God’s design so that we will lean on Him more and learn to trust His leadership through all circumstances. We will discover He is trustworthy, a good Shepherd and leader, that He is faithful and true, strong in our weakness, and a refuge for us. He is the ROCK we can build our house upon. Though our frames are but dust, His glory and love can shine though us. 

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