Place

 The world is full of silly people encouraging sillier people to aim for the stars, shoot for the moon, dream bigger, reach higher, and never be content or satisfied. Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, our visions of grandeur are bigger than our abilities to achieve them, and no matter how blessed we are, we remain in the perpetual mindset that there’s got to be something more. The grass is always greener, the ox is always fatter, the sun is always brighter, and the snow is always whiter on the other side of an imaginary fence.

Before anger makes anyone waste fifteen minutes in writing an angry e-mail, when I speak of vision, it is not the vision God has for us but the inward monologue that runs on a loop in our heads about how we would be the envy of the known world if only we were given half a chance. I could show the world the greatness in me if only they were willing to open their eyes and see. You make miniature dolls out of belly button lint. I get it, your art is precious to you, but you’re no Michelangelo or Bernini.

A God-given vision comes equipped with all the tools, ability, and wherewithal to carry it to its rightful conclusion. God-given visions, however, usually involve self-sacrifice, toil, humility, and unshakeable faith in His provision to fulfill His vision. I’m sure if some intrepid prosperity pimp ever comes across this, they’ll jerry-rig that last part and make it so it’s clear that if you want to reap a harvest, you must plant a seed. The seed, as always, isn’t being a shoulder to cry on, spending time with the abandoned, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or showing the love of Jesus; the seed must be legal tender; otherwise, no harvest for you.

People are becoming disillusioned, and I don’t blame them, even though, at least partially, they must take accountability for what they chose to believe while the getting was good and the gravy train was rolling toward biscuit town. What we choose to believe matters because there are always consequences tethered to those beliefs that will drag behind us no matter how hard we try to outrun them.

To paraphrase Paul, you are, of all men, most miserable if you anchor your faith in the here and now, in the things you can feel and touch, without regard or consideration for eternity. In other translations, the word used is pitiable, but whether miserable or pitiable, to be number one with a bullet in either category is no laughing matter.

Hypersensitivity is not in your best interest, spiritual or otherwise. I thought I’d lead with that since this is likely to offend some people, but like pulling a stick out of someone’s eye, some things can’t be helped. For some reason, I suspect arrogance and pride, the notion of knowing one’s place has garnered a negative connotation.

If you want to see someone’s hackles rise instantly, tell them to know their place or stay in their lane. Especially if it’s a woman who was told she has a calling on her life, a mantle on her shoulders, or a crown on her head, you can see the transformation from docile, loving sister to pit viper in real-time.

At the risk of getting pushback, it’s good to know your place. If my car starts making a noise, I take it to the mechanic. If my drain starts backing up, I call a plumber. I can try fixing my car or snaking my drain, but buying a drain snake isn’t cheap, and attempting automotive repairs is like physics to me. It saves me both time, money, and a pounding headache to call someone proficient at whatever I need to do and have them deal with it.

Another way of referring to the angels who did not keep their proper domain is angels who forgot their place. Because they forgot their place and left their own abode or habitation, they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

When men forget their place and leave their proper domain, it’s never in pursuit of more humility, obedience, or labor. By their assertions, they’re constantly pursuing higher callings, wider ministries, with the term global impact thrown in at some point because if it’s not global, it’s not big enough.

They forget that if God called them to ministry, He placed them where He needs them, not where their ego would like them to be. The tug of pride, the pull of the id, must be resisted because if we venture out on our own, following our vision of ourselves rather than His vision for us, we end up alone, without the covering of His power or authority, then the wolves come. When the enemy can distract the shepherd, in that he is following after his heart rather than tending to the sheep, there is no one to stand between the sheep and the wolves.

Sometimes success in ministry, at least as the world defines it, is not a gift from God but a snare of the devil. I’ve known men who lost their families, their wives, and some even their will to endure because they got so caught up in building a brand, in building a ministry, in growth year over year, with charts and figures and all manner of planning that it consumed them to the point of ignoring all else.

Is God growing a work, or is it ego, pride, and an inflated sense of self? If it’s God, His yoke is not heavy, and His burden is light. If it’s you, it will be a slog on the best of days.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.