Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.

Yesterday I sat in a room full of people far more wise than I could hope to be some day. It was almost as if I was walking into a room full of God’s elders; and it’s in moments like this that you realize things are about to change. I’ve always been someone who is hesitant to change, but as I grow I recognize it as a necessary in order to fulfill the calling God has placed over my life for the bringing forth of His kingdom.

In the session with these men and women these two sentences stuck out to me. I’ll start with the first.

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way. The kingdom of God is coming whether you want to be obedient or not.”

In the moment this brought an overwhelming sense of peace and edification in my Spirit. If I’m a little more honest, part of me felt a tinge of fear. At my core I don’t want to take part in a war, I attempt to convince myself, I know nothing about. There’s a comfort in taking the sideline, taking orders, or doing nothing at all. However, that comfort doesn’t derail the attacks of the enemy. The enemy comes and you will continue to get kicked over the head when standing defenseless. The war is here and bullets don’t stop just because you say you don’t want someone to shoot. That my friends is evident. So you have a choice; lead, follow, or get out of the way because God has an army that is not made of those who are weak. In accountability of myself I know the Lord has called me to be a leader. I don’t know what He says to you, but I do know His word tells us He is saying something.

Now the second phrase.

“There is a difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.”

I’ve spent a good chunk of my life being a peacekeeper. Don’t rock the boat Tabitha. What you say doesn’t matter. Take the hit Tabitha, you can't change it anyway. You probably deserve it, so why fight it?

These are the lies that have kept me sunk in a place of overwhelming defeat. Confidently, I can say now that I am not a peacekeeper. I am a peacemaker. A peacemaker knows hard things are to be said and done so that peace may actually come in.

Leaders led by the Spirit make hard decisions and they say hard things because they know the voice of the Father. When you step into this, know it will rock the boat because people will fear those that walk in freedom. It’s evidently clear it is hard to control those that walk in the way of freedom. People ignorant to their operation in the world will despise those who do not. Is it not true that Christ himself says we will be hated as He was hated?

““If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15:18-19‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

For myself I would rather be obedient to God and upset people, than peace-keep with people and upset my God who I utterly adore. My battle is not with you who bring conflict or even at times myself that brings conflict. My battle is of the spirit against an enemy that only seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of getting kicked over the head and accepting that I just have to take the blow. Ephesians 5 tells us we are to prepare and that we are gifted with the ability to defend. With a pure heart, and clean hands we shift things that only some will know about, but everyone is invited into.

You are not defenseless, you are not too far gone, you are only a victim if you choose to stay a victim.

Sometimes you might feel as if you have lost the battle, but take confidence in the one who has already won the war.