Job 26:1-4, “But Job answered and said: ‘How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many? To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?’”
You can push a man farther than you thought you could, but
eventually, if you keep pushing, you will push a man too far. Everyone’s got
their limits; everyone has a point beyond which they can no longer remain silent,
unperturbed, or calm.
If ever there was an apt analogy, this was the straw that
broke the camel’s back when it came to Job’s patience, and rather than answer
Bildad, he turned the microscope on him and gave him a taste of his own
medicine.
Although it seems Zophar had already given up trying to
persuade Job and convince him of the wickedness he knew himself to be innocent
of, this was Bildad’s third attempt at bat, and not only had he swung and
missed, but he’d gotten enough of a rise out of Job where he was no longer on
the defense, but went on the offense.
It’s a lot easier to lob unsubstantiated accusations, draw conclusions
based on no evidence, and stand rigidly upon the self-righteous soapbox we all
carry around in the hope that we can put it to good use than it is to be the
object of the selfsame scrutiny we gleefully foist upon others.
Contrary to his three friends, Job did not level ad hominem
attacks against Bildad, or accuse him of wickedness, but asked him a series of
poignant questions that demanded answers, answers which could not be honestly
given unless some soul searching and introspection took place.
Let’s set aside the unfounded accusations of wickedness, let’s
overlook your digs at my integrity, let’s gloss over your unwillingness to take
me at my word, and pretend as though you never called me a liar to my face.
What have you done, exactly? How have you helped him who is without power? How
have you saved the arm that has no strength? How have you counseled one who has
no wisdom?
These are questions we would do well to ask ourselves any
time we have the inclination to demand that others do more.
I’ve been in ministry for thirty-nine years. I started at age
12 and am now eligible to join AARP. No, I’m not of retirement age, not quite
yet, but the AARP is dedicated to persons over the age of fifty, and I qualify.
Throughout these almost four decades, I’ve seen a lot. Some
things I remember fondly, others I wish I could forget, but the one thing that
broke my heart every time was seeing decent, well-meaning men and women burn
out not because of something God demanded of them, but because they gave in to
the voices and the pressure within their respective circles to do more.
By all means, walk in the calling to which you have been
called. Do what God commands you to do, but don’t take it upon yourself to try
and speed up the process, accelerate growth, expand, diversify, or any of the
other buzzwords being bandied about in ministerial circles nowadays.
It’s not your place to have a five-year plan, target
demographics, increase your visibility, market share, or digital footprint.
Walk in obedience to God, and He will grow you at the pace He decides, in the
manner He decides, and by the means He decides.
If God called you to preach the Word, then preach the Word.
It shouldn’t matter if it’s to five people or five thousand. You’re doing the
thing God called you to do.
When we give in to the pressure of trying to please people rather
than pleasing God, it never ends well. From broken marriages to wayward
children to once prominent leaders walking away from the faith, this was never
God’s plan or purpose.
It was men who decided to draw outside the lines, to stretch
beyond their calling, to get ahead of God, and they paid dearly for it.
Every couple of weeks, I get an email from someone that,
although varying in tonality, has the same underlying premise: if I were you, I’d
be traveling and preaching nonstop! If I were you, I’d release all the dreams
and visions for public consumption. If I were you, I’d focus on deliverance,
prophecy, preaching, teaching, impartation, and a handful of other things that
to the individuals in question seem more pertinent and important than what I am
currently doing.
Rarely is there someone who says just do what the Lord told
you to do, because that’s just the nature of modern discourse.
We are all called to serve, follow, and obey Jesus. That’s
the baseline for every individual calling themselves a son or daughter of God.
What He calls us to do beyond that, in whatever capacity, for whatever length
of time, is intimate and personal, between the individual and God, and no man
has the right to impose his will on that individual's calling.
I get that most people are well-meaning, but there are a
handful who would rather judge another’s garden than tend to their own because
it requires less effort to do so. Rather than focus on what someone is or isn’t
doing, or insist that they should be doing more of what they already are,
perhaps our time would be better spent asking ourselves the questions that Job
asked Bildad: How have I helped? How have I counseled? How have I declared
sound advice to many?
We all will stand before God one day, and we will not be
judged by men or the opinions of men, but by the sovereign, omniscient Creator
of all that is, and in His righteous judgment He will determine whether we were
faithful servants, doing what He commanded, or faithless, double tongued, rebellious
goats who exploited the people of God and supposed that godliness was a means
of gain.
Just remember, it’s binary: left or right, sheep or goat, beloved
or cast out, obedient or faithless; there is no in-between.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
