Can I Really Say It Was Good?

Sunday is always an exhausting day, but 99.99999 percent of the time a very blessed, joyous, God-filled day.  This is a post for Monday, but I'm writing it at 10:46 pm on Sunday.  Today was one of those amazing, powerful, blessed days that at the end of the day, you lay down, sigh contentedly and say, "Thank you Lord for a wonderful day."  Don't get me wrong, I got my praise on ,got preached too, had my toes lovingly stepped on, prayed, and the list goes on, but it was a wonderful day.  Sunday on the social media sites are bursting with the shouts of awesome services throughout the country and even the world (depending on who you are connected to).

Then Monday cometh.  Monday morning on Facebook and twitter tend to be negative places.  The sadness that the weekend has ended, the frustrations of morning rush hour that always seems worse on Monday (I used to work outside the home, I know) and just the general bemoaning because it's a Monday.  People expect Monday to be bad.  We expect the worst from co-workers, bosses, clients/customers, school mates and of course, rush hour.  We wake up expecting to have a rough day, even I, a stay-at-home mom, tend to wake up exhausted, in need of day of recovery and most of the time expect my children to be cranky and little squirrelly.  

After just a few hours of sleep, we wake up grumpy and expecting to have a rough day, forgetting the amazing blessings just 15 hours, give or take, earlier.  All the hot air has been let out of our balloon and we are deflated.  Drudgery of a new week has replaced our happiness (can't be joy or it wouldn't be that easily replaced) as we venture off into our Monday adventures.

So this is my question:  What will do on Monday with what God did for you or to you on Sunday?

What if we woke up expecting a good day instead of a bad one?  Or expecting to feel God's presence despite the fact that the week has indeed began anew?  Or even better, ready to share with others the testimony of our awesome Sunday?  If we were really impacted, changed and challenged on Sunday, shouldn't our Monday's look different?  

If not, can we really say Sunday was good?

Illusion

***I must preface this blog post with this:  This is NOT a post of judgement.  It is simply what God put on my heart this early Monday morning to share with others.***



Facebook is the ultimate play land  to play out whatever life you choose.  It is also the ultimate place to hide who you truly are or to completely (and sometimes to an extreme) reveal your true self.

As I was on Facebook this morning, most of my friends were still posting about what God did yesterday at church or what God did for them or to them at UPCI General Conference.  Awesome things happened for many people, myself included.  And the first thing that popped into my mind was the old saying, "actions speak louder than words".  With the development of social media we have a unique tool not given to generations before us, that we can reach hundreds, if not thousands of people with our words without ever leaving our homes or even getting out of our pj's.  It is so very easy to talk about what God did, spoke or miraculously produced, but talk is cheap.  Right?   Some of my friends on Facebook never and I mean never post a status update.  They are on there to say Happy Birthday to friends far and near and look at pictures and possibly chat with a friend, but you never see a status of what's going on in their life.  And that's okay, nothing wrong with that.  Other friends are on Facbook just here and there, maybe connecting with a group (like I do with the homeschool group and church group) and to just share snippets of their lives.  Others, like myself, have business pages or church pages to keep people up-to-date on all the wonderful news.  For others though, Facebook is a place to play out every single detail of their lives, from what they ate for breakfast to who they hate and love.  We all read every snarky comment or every phrase of praise that is plastered to their wall, and often it's within the same hour.  We read how some people have been lazy all day and how some have apparently not only cleaned their entire home but the homes of all their neighbors too.  I am being somewhat facetious, but you know what I mean.  Their entire life is played out on Facebook and/or Twitter for all the world to see.  I call them fish bowl Facebookers.  We seemingly know all that they do, believe, pray, dream of, what team they root for, their cosmic cleaning abilities, favorite books, food, TV shows, music and the list just goes on and on.  The problem with Facebook is this, we can post whatever we want and for some this is a golden opportunity to create themselves to others the way they wish they could be and not they way they truly are.  It's a chance to be okay when we are really depressed, the opportunity to be an on fire prayer warrior when really our faith is wavering, a soul winner with Kingdom on the mind when really we haven't talked to a person about God in a very long time.  On Facebook you can be the busiest person according to your status updates when really all you did was read statuses all day.  On Facebook you can be a gourmet chef everyday of your life, when really you had take out.  On Facebook you can be the most spiritual person ever, when in actuality you haven't had a real conversation with God in days or weeks or well, maybe longer.

I believe we can read a Biblical account similar to what I just typed out, found in Matthew 23.  Whew!  You all should read that whole chapter (I did.  Good stuff people, good stuff), Jesus got all over those Pharisee's for their hypocritical lifestyle.  Here is a small snippet of Matthew 23:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,  “The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach.  They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them."

What am I saying?  Yes, it is possible to be a hypocrite by way of social media.  The Pharisee's had authority to speak into the lives of those around them.  Jesus said to, "do what they tell you, but DON'T follow their example."  Basically, follow the teachings because that is God's way, the Torah, but do not act like them because they do not practice what they preach.  Listen to God's word, but also act out God's word.  It's powerful to me that Jesus spoke of the burden these leaders placed on the people but they themselves would not carry such a load.  It's not unlike those that tell others to be faithful when they themselves are not.  It's not unlike those who want to invite people to church but then don't want to help transport them there or be available to help disciple them.  If we say we are Kingdom minded then our actions will bear out the fruit of those words, just like if you say you have cleaned your house for twelve hours straight you should have no problem if I just "drop by".  It all comes back to our actions preaching, teaching, speaking louder than our words or statuses ever will.

Eventually you will leave your house (hopefully anyway) and the true fish tank will be revealed.  Will the world, your friends, your church family see what you posted as who you are or will they see another Pharisee, a lot of words and no actions backing them up.  This is the thing about fish tanks that is so beautiful, they are a creation of their owner, each tank unique.  What the owner chooses to put in the tank is what we see.

Who is creating your fish tank life?  Is the master Creator putting things in you that we can see and believe and trust and follow?  Or are you creating a fish tank life you want every one to believe is real but once exposed for viewing is just. . . . . .fake?


***I must also this is post was created because of what God laid on my heart to share, not because people were sharing their Sunday or General Conference experiences.  I love reading what God did in churches and lives on Sunday and special conferences. It just happened to coincide.  The topic was formed a couple of weeks ago and this morning God reminded me that actions speak louder than words (and that was the piece I needed for this post) and what we say and committed unto God, even though it's Monday and we aren't surrounded by like minded people, we must follow through unto Him.  God reminded me that it's easy to say we are going to do this or that when we are in  the flow of His presence but it must be carried out every day life.  I am also not saying that is bad to post about your team, books, etc.***

Some Days

Some days just do not start well.  Nothing epically horrific has happened, just a morning where nothing seems to go right.  More irritating than bad. The toothpaste is gone and you thought you had another tube, but as it turns out, you don't (so adults and kids alike are brushing with watermelon toothpaste).  There are four hundred socks in the clean laundry for your hubby but there are absolutely no matching pairs (really?!?!?).  You walk out the door without your keys and your eleven year old (thankfully) has her key and can let you back in to get said keys.

I know we would all like to wake up 100% refreshed and ready to start the day.  We would like for everything to just fall right into place with no hiccups at all.  We would like to float our way to work or through schoolwork/housework (whatever the case may be).  It would be appreciated if our boss/coworkers/family (again whatever the case may be) would be appreciative for all we do and be happy, joyful, cooperative people all the time.  We would love for life to just flow along like a peaceful babbling brook. . . . but reality is, sometimes it's more like shooting the rapids.  Sometimes we are flummoxed and socks don't match and the toothpaste is all gone.  Sometimes you forget your keys.  And always as long as we around humans at all, someone might be crabby, tired or unappreciative.

It's life.  It's filled with ups and downs.  It's got twists and turns, small irritations and grand rapids to conquer.  There are good days and bad days.

And then there are some days. . . I keep telling the Lord that a rewind button would be helpful but His response is always the same. . . "Give me all your days daughter and I'll sustain you."  I can't go back, but I can make a choice to not let the rough start drag the entire day down.  Will I let minor irritations ruin my attitude?

God never promised that all my days would be grand, happy, painless and carefree.  He did promise that He would keep me through every single day, no matter what it brings.

So I add toothpaste to the shopping list, continue to look for and match socks and go get a few extra keys made so that we don't have that problem again.  But first, I think I'll talk to my Father.  I think I'll pour my heart out for all I'm thankful for (because there are many things) and for all I still need Him to help me be, then I'll jump on that to do list.





*Yes I am aware that this is Tuesday, with a Meaningful Monday badge.  It just seems to match how my Tuesday is going.  :)