There’s something that has been bothering me for a few months, and to be honest, I hadn’t found a way to express it without being judgmental, petty, belittling, or angry about it until Yahweh intervened.
Just like everyone else, I’m human. I have very human feelings, very human reactions, and very human tendencies. But while I am human, I realize that I am called to be led by my spirit, and not my flesh. I have the power to decide whether I want to be motivated by my baser instincts, or wait to be led by the Holy Spirit inside of me.
When I’m right about something, and I know I’m right, Yahweh will not give me permission to behave badly. Being right doesn’t give me the right to be mean. So in order to preserve my integrity and uphold the standard He has called me to, Yahweh will give me compassion instead of justification.
He causes me to see other people’s actions through their eyes. He humbles me. He places me inside their minds and helps me make sense of their motives, their thought processes, and their reasoning. He gently opens my hand and replaces my sense of rightness with His love. Once my eyes have been opened to their perspective, I no longer feel justified in my meanness. Compassion is infectious. Once it begins to spread, it’s hard to stop it. You have to work hard to treat someone poorly whose plight you understand.
But recently, I’ve been concerned about the number of people I see on social media who desperately desire to be seen. No one expresses this out loud. No one will actually own up to their neediness or jealousy, but it’s there.
This is where I was struggling to stay genuine,, and this is where He showed me what’s actually happening.
People are allowing the enemy to deceive them. People believe the equivocations that he is whispering in their ears. But let me tell you something: Satan will never tell you the whole story.
Being on a high platform, constantly in from of people, costs something.
The Bible says that to whom much is given, much is required. That’s not some fancy saying that sounds great but doesn’t actually mean anything. Yahweh doesn’t just give platforms out for good behavior, He doesn’t give you a following to boost your ego or to stun your haters, He doesn’t give you profound and prolific words to speak so that man can glorify and uplift you. Yahweh places certain people atop certain platforms so that they can better further the cause that He has assigned to their lives.
The men and women I admire today who I have allowed to speak into my life, to teach me scripture, to draw me closer to Yahweh, have all undoubtedly paid very high prices for those platforms. When you sign up to be used by Yahweh in such a mighty way, it is most definitely going to come with extreme opposition. You may have just as many people who can’t stand you as there are people that love you.
These people who I am seeing that want so desperately to be seen haven’t realized how loved they truly are by Yahweh. When we find ourselves engrossed in the lives of others, obsessed with their every move and desiring to emulate them in almost every way, we need to understand that we have insecurities that need to be addressed. Having insecurities is not a sin; it is a byproduct of our sinful nature, another thing that separates us from Yahweh.
When our insecurities sit in the driver’s seat of our life, we can go places, do things, and be people that we never imagined, and not in a good way. Insecurities are composed of lies, therefore a persona that is built based on insecurity, is a persona that is false and has absolutely no true foundation.
Insecurity will cause you to obsess over throwing someone off their platform so that you can take their place, look at Saul and David. Insecurity will also cause you to envy a platform not because you want it, but just because you don’t like that people are drawn to their light, look at Yahshua and the Pharisees. Insecurity will also cause you to see what someone else is doing, envy it to the point of obsession, drag you away from the path of your purpose, and seek to build your own platform somewhere else so that you can have all that you perceive that other person has.
Platforms for purpose don’t work that way.
Each person that has been called by Yahweh to further a cause first had to allow Yahweh to reveal their purpose to them. Are you even called to reach the masses? Have you been called to a life of obscurity but you really want to live a life in the limelight? Are you trying to press yourself into a mold that wasn’t made for you? Are you hacking away pieces of yourself, becoming something unnatural and foreign in order to attempt to do something that someone else has been called to do?
These are hard questions to ask yourself, but I promise you need to. If you’re trying to make what you do or say look as effortless and feel as genuine as it does for someone else, you need to consider that you’re not graced to say or do those things.
Uniqueness is a part of purpose. No two platforms look exactly the same because no two people are exactly the same. Before you step foot in front of a crowd, you need to know who you are. You need to know what’s inside of you before a light shines on you. You need to be at peace with who you were before the glory changed your life. You need to be free of the shame of your past, and believe that Yahweh can and will work it for your good. If you’re still attempting to hide your imperfections from people, you’re not ready for the platform.
People who have large followings and influence a great deal of people need to take their positions seriously. You simply cannot do, say, and act out what you feel all the time. The stakes are higher, the lights are brighter, your mistakes mean more, your decisions carry more weight.
Your level of discipline has to be higher. You cannot afford to have your priorities mixed up. Letting Yahweh lead you into a life that is public means that the things He has called you to accomplish must be paramount. The dreams and goals you have that don’t line up with His will have to be pushed aside. You have to prefer what He wants over what you want.
Satan won’t bring it to you like this, He will only say you’ll get more likes on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll get more opportunities to be seen and heard, more people will tell you how great you’re doing and give you pats on the back. He won’t tell you that sometimes the very people you thought would encourage you are completely silent when Yahweh reveals Himself in a mighty way through you. He won’t tell you about the loss you’ll experience, the hours of sleep you’ll have to sacrifice, the number of times you’ll have to choose Yahweh instead of your feelings, the times you’ll have to no one else to lean on, the isolation and misunderstanding you’ll encounter as a result of producing under the scrutiny of so many people.
But Yahweh doesn’t want to trick or fool us; He wants us to be fully aware of what we will be giving up if we choose to follow Him. But He also lets us know that what we will gain will be so much greater than all we’ve lost.
If you want to be seen or heard, but have not established sustainable rhythms of discipline in your relationship with Yahweh, you’re not ready for a platform. You can’t force yourself onto a stage, you must be led. And He will not lead you somewhere that you don’t yet have the infrastructure to survive in. You need to focus on increasing your spiritual maturity, and your awareness of Yahweh’s leading before you seek to lead others. Do you know what your purpose is? Maybe you’re not called to live a life online. Maybe social media will have very little to do with how Yahweh chooses to use you in this life. Maybe you’re called to serve right where you are, or make an impact right where you are.
No one ever wants to hear that, but Yahshua makes it plain so many times in scripture that we are called to be servants always, even on a platform. You’re called to serve on the platform, not be served. Sometimes servanthood comes with notoriety, and sometimes it’s a thankless job and no one ever knows your name. Either way, it’s our duty to be instruments of love, and to allow ourselves to be used in whatever way Yahweh sees fit to draw His children back to Him.
And this is a word of caution to those who already find themselves on platforms – you need to accept that your life in not your own. Your Yes to Yahweh meant that you agreed to let Him have His complete way in and through you. Your standard is higher, and more is required of you. You’re not holier than everyone else, but you’re called to be a light. And sometimes being a light means walking away from things that aren’t necessarily bad, but aren’t purposeful or life-giving. The weight of your purpose is souls, and that’s why the stakes are so high. You cannot afford to live on a platform and not be ruled by Yahweh. If you’re attempting to manage your platform independently, stop it.
Not all with preach, not all will teach, not all will write, not all will sing, not all will travel far away. But there is contentment and complete peace and fulfillment in the place of your purpose. It’s time to reevaluate which platforms you’re categorizing as important and those you’re looking down on. If you despise your purpose because you view it as insignificant, you will live an unsettled life riddled with insecurity and resentment. You will miss the fullness that Yahweh has in store for you trying to be someone else and live someone else’s life.
So today, I urge you to take an honest look inside yourself. I find that I have to take regular breaks from social media, especially when my insecurities are getting too loud and I’m focusing on other people’s lives more than I should be. Maybe you need to take a step back and establish your identity firmly. Maybe you need to see the beauty in yourself again, rediscover your talents, passions, and uniqueness. Maybe you need to get to the root of those insecurities that are fueling your desires. Maybe you need to get honest about your jealousy and where it’s coming from. Whatever it is, I want to let you know that your life is tailor-made. You won’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to walk in purpose. You won’t have to drag someone off their platform in order to be someone of significance. You won’t have to be a fraud in order to be viewed as brave, beautiful, wise, or talented.
You are made in Yahweh’s image, and He has a plan and a platform just for you. You’re loved.