Yesterday as I was looking at my Facebook page, I noticed the number of "friends" I have. It was at 1,275 people. How in the WORLD do I know that many people? I began thinking about that number and then comparing it with the number of people I interact with on a fairly consistent basis. There are some that post things I enjoy reading and who comment on my page occasionally. Then there are many others who rarely post anything and some that do, yet never really interact on my page. I realized that it is time to go through this list of "friends" and remove those who have no interaction. This process is not as easy as it would seem.
In order to remove someone from your page, you have to go to their page first. I have yet to find a way to bring up my friends list and quickly unfriend them. This process means looking at each person's page, but also leads me to reflect on how I know them, why are they on my page in the first place, and then decide if I want to keep them there. During this thought process yesterday an unexpected emotion hit me. Fear. What? Why am I afraid? I started worrying about if this person would be offended by me deleting them. Would they even notice? If it is someone who never interacts on my page, then they shouldn't be bothered by the removal, right? There are some people who never interact, but I enjoy reading their updates. However, many of them are also on Twitter and post the same things on that site. You would not believe the anxiety this decision was causing me!
Then I had to think about the people on my page that limit me in what I post. There have been times I have wanted to write a status or share something I've read, but have censored myself because of someone else's insecurities. More than once I have said something and then received a text or private message from someone because what they read, they perceived as being about them. The reality was that what I said was in no way directed at them and yet because of what was in their own hearts, they took it as a personal insult or accusation. Do I really need that much stress over something said on Facebook? I know it may sound crazy, but all of these things are the thoughts I had simply over removing someone from my Facebook!
And then I was reminded of this:
"When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4
Is there someone in your life that is controlling you simply through the fear of what they will think about you? What if they talk bad about you because you do what you feel led in your heart to do? What if they misinterpret your intentions and turn something good into something bad? I can tell you that I have been there. When people make assumptions about you based on their own insecurities, it is not something we can take personally. As long as we know, and God knows our hearts, there is no need to fear the opinion of man (or woman).
Is there a relationship in your life that has an element of fear? If so, my prayer for you today is to experience the peace from God to let the relationship end. It is not an easy process. Oftentimes we love someone who is not good for us. We can love someone that takes more out of us than they contribute to our lives. It is also possible to care about people who in essence abuse us. Remember, God is the one who is worthy of our trust. Seek Him in all things and He will guide you to make the right decision for you and your household.
***I received this comment after posting this on my FB and thought it added to the thought so I wanted to share it here:
This morning in my quiet time, God spoke so clearly to my heart and said, "delete the spectators." I then looked up the word spectator, and it is defined as: 1.a person who looks on or watches; onlooker; observer. 2. a person who is present... at and views a spectacle, display, or the like. Spectators are very rarely involved with what is going on, or ever bring anything to the table. If you ever watch spectators at a sporting event; they usually sit and talk back and forth, and even whisper about the things that go wrong in the game. When I see and hear the word spectator, the word 'speculate' also comes to mind. We know that speculation is not truth or a fact, it is mainly assumption. Do you have any spectators in your life, or even or your social networking sites? Are they ever actively involved in with what's going on with you? This is definitely something to consider, because it may be time to do some deleting. Blessings! -Cherine
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