A commentary by Randy Stiver – March 23, 2018

Recently the social media internet site called Facebook plus the company’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been in the midst of controversy.

The liberal news media have been angry that, as they put it, the conservative party mined Facebook for information about its users to gain some advantage with voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Then ironically, former President Obama’s campaign director in the 2012 election year admitted that their party had also tapped Facebook to target ads for their presidential candidate. Various numbers of Facebook users have been bandied about. But it seems that President Trump’s campaign harvested useful political information from 50 or 55 million or so social media users, while the number for the Democratic party for the 2012 election was somewhere near 190 million users.

Raging controversy seems to be the order of the American day. What did we expect? “If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace” (Proverbs 29:9).

The social media conundrum

Social media sites like Facebook have been the rage for years. It has become proverbial that too many people post too much detail of their personal lives on these sites. The irony is that many are surprised when others take them to task for ill-advised pictures (typically of themselves) or for foolish statements that they post on their personal pages. Likewise, many are all aghast with apparent righteous indignation when their “personal” information is harvested. What do social media users expect—yours truly included?

Who’s watching you?

What if you knew that someone powerful and incredibly important had been constantly monitoring your personal postings on Facebook (or similar programs) from the get-go? What if said person was using that information to keep track of where and when you traveled, what you did at home, what you said to—or about—others, what you bought, etc. and also studied every tiny detail of each of your posted pictures—especially the selfies? What if this watcher had the ability to watch you all the time, including when you aren’t on your computer or that ever-present, annoying phone?

Would that detailed scrutiny make you angry or indignant? Some savvy friend will say, “Why should it? After all, you posted those pictures, opinions and foolish statements yourself.”

It’s not Facebook

This “program” is infinitely more powerful than Facebook or any other social media site. And its information monitoring is phenomenally greater—phenomenally! If you gave this “program” a name it would be more like God-book!

God knows infinitely more about you, me and every last person on earth (or who has ever lived) than any of the Millennial, media giants could ever imagine—or anybody else either.

God knows the number of hairs on your head, updated constantly from the day you were born (Matthew 10:28-31). Counting hairs may sound boring, but if God knows that information for every head of every human that ever lived—then what else does He know?!

The winds and the sea obey God (Mathew 10:28-31) all the time, always have, including the winds on other planets anywhere in the entire universe!

Are we feeling small yet?  Hopefully so.

When you’re in trouble—because of a foolish Facebook post or far more deadly trouble like the future of our sad, old earth—remember that “the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Read God’s posts

The fascinating posts that God has put up for mankind and womankind to read are absolutely revelatory! So much more valuable and interesting—when you think it through—than any of our humble mumblings. Get a hard copy of your own to read when your phone’s dead or out of electrical juice. Marvel at the wisdom and power of God’s posts. Internalize it and your own social media posts will encourage and instruct. 

End