Anyone who has ever driven a car knows the side mirrors on a vehicle have a disclaimer: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” God often teaches me through the simplest things, and He is faithful to stick to this method. I suppose it just shows that I’m a simple girl. So it didn’t surprise me when He spoke to me through my side mirror recently. He showed me that social media often works just like our side mirrors. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram should come with a similar disclaimer that says: “Lives displayed on social media may appear better than they actually are!”
God has a plan for each one of us, and I think sometimes social media can derail that perfect plan. It’s so easy to envy our friends’ perfectly crafted meals, swaddled babies and picture perfect date nights. Instead, we need to focus on what God has for us and resist the temptation to be controlled by emotions that tell us everyone else has a better life. Can you imagine if Ruth had been sidetracked by the fact that other women hadn’t lost their husbands and been left with their grouchy mothers-in-law? Ruth was in Jesus’ lineage and had a purpose all her own- one that didn’t resemble anyone else’s. You’ve probably read her story in the Bible, but have you ever imagined what her Facebook statuses could have been?
Traveling again . . . Paired with photos of the places she saw as she moved to Naomi’s homeland, including a shot of her painted toes in the sand.
So much yummy food . . . Paired with photos of the harvest she gathered with her own hands with food positioned perfectly on a plate.
Look at this hottie! . . . Paired with photos of Boaz’s feet.
See how you don’t get the full picture? It’s so easy to compare and fill in the details. When you read any piece of work – whether it be a book, status update or blog – you only get to read the amount of information the author decides to include. God knew our human nature and that we’d need real people to relate to when He gave us real stories like Ruth’s. Her life was filled with difficult times and hard decisions. She worked in the fields and lived in a land where she knew no one except her grieving mother-in-law. Ruth 2:17 says, “So she gleaned.” That sounds exhausting! Ruth wasn’t living the storybook life, raising 2.4 kids and living in the best neighborhood. She had it rough. But I wonder if women who met Ruth after she married Boaz and gave birth to her son looked at her in jealousy and thought she had it too easy. Those women were seeing Ruth’s life after she made it out of a season of trials; they missed all the nitty-gritty details.
We all have women in our lives who we only know from a distance. We only know the bits and pieces we see online or at church. If we just took the time to sit down with them over coffee, we’d learn that they, too, have lives full of details that make up their stories- that they’re so much more than the way they present themselves online. We all have faults and go through hard times, but , like Ruth, they make us who we are.
God has plans for each of us, and every story plays out a little differently. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I don’t know about you, but I think that’s reason enough to embrace the journey we’re on!
Written for Studio G Spring 2014