Searched and Found or Searched and Not Found?

Here’s a statement that might get some in a tizzy: Most people want to be searched but not found. Hmm… Is that a true or false validation?

I believe it to be true. It’s no surprise that the biggest waste of time is social media. The scrolling, reading, replying, posting, etc. For businesses and industries that rely heavily on social media, it’s not a waste. Television commercials paved the way for videos, blogs, vlogs, photo posts, etc. If you can be enticed, zoned in, and hyper-focused on a “screen”, they’ve got you! The movie theater industry is another, where you have to sit through a slew of movie advertisements and concession ads before the actual movie starts, twenty minutes later. However, without social media, small businesses/local businesses wouldn’t get the word out through the airwaves. This is why small businesses have thrived using TikTok. It helps both consumers and businesses.

What about the individual? Social media has opened a plethora of information at one’s fingertips; like Siri or ChatGPT. They are a direct information reservoir. No critical thinking needed. But, in some cases, it can become an obsession. Look at selfies. In the days of Polaroid cameras, film was expensive. It was great to have the “instant” photo, but it was a one-time shot to make it right the first time. Then, when digital cameras came out, they allowed immediate erasures of pictures, no film required.

Today, we have that on our cellular phones. Apple, Android, and Google often compete for the best photo functionality on their cell phones. Add filters and various enhancements, and you become a whole different person. Never mind that the main purpose of cell phones was to have a cordless mobile calling system, anywhere, anytime. Remember the television show, Miami Vice? I do. Those big, beautiful cell phones were awesome. Ahh… technology!

Even in today’s employment search, applications for jobs require uploading resumes through various portals where you answer questions, attach your PDF resume, and off it goes into cyberspace. I remember the days of mailing in the resumes, and if the job was local, physically dropping it off directly at the Human Resources department of the organization.

I want to pause here and say that not all technology is bad and self-destructive. Taken to the extreme, it might.

For me, as an author, posting about my books or blogs I’ve written has both been beneficial and not so beneficial. Like any product or service, one must put themselves out there, find the right consumers, and hope and pray for the best. It’s a consumer’s world, and the harvest is more than plentiful. And, when you see that you are searched for, at least for me, it feels exciting. And this is why I will go back to validation. Do people want to be searched and found? Or, searched and not found?

Studies have been done to show that it’s human nature to be confirmed, thought of, needed, etc. We are all looking for something to prove our existence, purpose, and stamp in this world.

Cell phones have connected us to more people and things around the world than any other device. Have all these connections severed our ties to the ONE that has always been searching for us? We have become so distracted by worldly things that Jesus Christ is knocking on our door, and frankly, no one is answering. Folks, we are found in Him, but instead of opening the door, we are focusing on “finding” ourselves. Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

The author, A.W. Tozer, in his book, The Pursuit of Happiness, said, “We pursue God because, and only because, He first put an urge within us to the pursuit.” The Bible tells us in John 6:44,  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. The Lord keeps trying to draw us to Him. Sometimes though, we choose the physical over the spiritual.

I do post on various social media accounts. Some days it’s about writing, other days it’s Biblical encouragement, and still others are family milestones. It’s flattering to be found, liked, loved, and hugged, even if it’s an emoji.

The best validation I’ve experienced is the one where I cry out to the Lord and tell Him to search me, remove all my iniquities from my soul, and make me pure and holy, not worldly and consumed with things that do not matter. Because in the end, it really won’t matter – the haves, only the relationships. Psalm 139:23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties, And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

One day, I will be face-to-face with God, and I want Him to know that when He searched for me, I heard Him. “Hear I am, Lord!” Hineni!

What about you?

Be searched and found in the right avenues. Stay on course. Psalm 42:1-2, As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

References:

Photo by Sanket  Mishra: https://www.pexels.com/photo/men-typing-in-the-google-search-engine-from-realme-6-pro-google-is-the-number-one-search-web-16629436/

https://www.biblegateway.com/