We write, post, and blog mostly about the good things in life. We post pictures where everyone is smiling. We write about our victories, our wins, and our successes. We only hint at our pain. This gives the illusion that life is better than it is, thereby leaving our friends wondering why their life is not as smile filled. Yet, when we read their posts we assume everything is good with them. Facebook and online posting are incomplete and non-transparent attempts at transparency.

I was reading about Jesus’s Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem today in Luke. Imagine Jesus posting on Facebook afterward. Someone would have snapped a picture of him riding the donkey with crowds shouting and waving palm branches. I wonder if he would mention the city dwellers who said, “Who is this?” Would he have mentioned the Pharisees who rebuked Jesus for letting the crowds treat him like a king? Would he have mentioned the anguish that led to his turning over the tables in the Temple?

Jesus’s life was not without opposition, attack, and animosity. Yet, he set his mind on his purpose.

[31] And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. [32] For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. [33] And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise” (Lk 18:31-33).

He knew why he was here. He did not turn from his appointed purpose. He was not depressed over the fact that his friends were going to get to turn the world upside down with the gospel, while he had to go to the cross. He didn’t read other people’s half truths about their lives and feel somehow cheated. He knew the Father. He was known by the Father. He knew his purpose, and he embraced it.

As believers we need to remember that everyone is broken. The “beautiful” people of our world live broken lives just as much as the next person. Why is there just as much suicide among those who have made it in the world as among the underprivileged, perhaps more. Everyone lives in a broken world and everyone faces their own demons. Our call is not to compare our condition to that of others, but to know that as believers we know the Father. We are known by the Father. He has a purpose for us and we need to embrace it and walk by faith. Let’s stop comparing ourselves to others and rest in God’s purpose for us. In him we are secure.