What Do You Meme?

I've noticed this rash of memes among my Facebook friends.  I get it.  They're funny; they're cute.  They sum up the entirety of your existence in eight words or less.  However, if everyone on my extensive list of friends (currently, 112; funny, last week I thought I had 115) posts 2 memes each day, that's 224 -isms and -ologies I must wade through simply to ascertain the outcome of your trip to Disney, or the sex of your first grandchild.  Chances are, I am already quite aware of your stance on Obamacare, gun control, cheesy chicken, or dumb people.  I really would just like to know how your day is going.  I like the pictures of you and your niece at the park.

But, since you have subjected me to your philosophies, you have opened the door for my OPINION!

Let's take this one:

Probably coined by some well-meaning individual, looking to simplify the issue of doubt and the remedy of prayer.  Cute.  Truth is, sometimes when I experience doubt, it's because I have been looking up.  Because I have been wrestling with the serious issues of my faith, God's plan for me, contradictions I see and hear daily that make me wonder what, on earth, God is doing.  Jonah was not happy that God decided to spare Nineveh.  To the people of that city, Jonah must have looked like he hadn't a clue.  And, if God is going to give out free passes to those who don some potato sacks and dust, despite their vile actions in the past, what am I doing by trying to walk the straight and narrow?  The Christian life is not such that it can be summed up in clipart.  It is difficult, and not for the self-sufficient.  God's plans are not so easily revealed that a quick prayer or peek into the pages of Scripture will "clear things up in a jiffy."  Some times our greatest doubts can spring forth from seeking God at the greatest heights.

Or my personal fave:

NOT true, and NOT biblical.  1 Corinthians 10:13.  It talks about temptation.  It talks about the Lord giving us a way out -- HIM -- not handling it ourselves.  That's all I'm sayin.'

Lastly:

Of course I can't actually find one at the moment.  No doubt, there will be several when I get up in the morning.  But those adorable little promises that by simply sharing a picture of Jesus, He will do something wonderful in your life.  The chain letter of my youth without the letter.  Well, if Jesus is going to make me wealthy, or pretty, or successful just because I share on Facebook, I'd better get crackin.'  After all, I didn't do a blessed thing and still got saved!