Throughout history, success or failure is often determined by someone or something being where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. From sports to warfare to our personal lives, being where you are supposed to be can make a “destiny difference”.
On June 6, 1944, the success of Operation Overlord (what we commonly refer to as D-Day) can be largely attributed to the fact that personnel and equipment were where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there.
Conversely, the failure of Operation Market Garden (famously depicted in the movie A Bridge Too Far) just three months later can be blamed, in large part, on the inability to get men and supplies where they needed to be in order to support troop movements and actions. Although Operation Market Garden was actually a larger operation, it failed to meet it’s objective and expedite the end World War II.
In sports, the difference between a team winning and losing a game has often come down to a player not being in his proper place when he was needed. Super Bowls have been won and lost for this very reason.
Even in the Bible, a seemingly insignificant decision made a difference we can follow across generations.
Look at King David.
2 Samuel 11:1 says…
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war,
David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.
They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
But David remained in Jerusalem.
“At a time when kings go off to war”.
This would imply that David, as king and leader of the army, should have been with his army, Instead, he decided to hang back, and relax in the confines of his palace in Jerusalem. While there was not necessarily anything inherently wrong with being where he was (in his palace), by not being in his proper place, it allowed him to fall into temptation, and subsequently sin with Bathsheba. Not being where he was supposed to be opened the door for sin, and changed the destinies of Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba, David himself, and an entire nation.
Maybe there is nothing inherently wrong with where you are… it’s just not where you are supposed to be. For me, as a burned-out Southern Baptist preacher in 1989, a perfectly acceptable place for me to be would have been at home with my family. However, where I was supposed to be was in Glorietta, New Mexico. Being there, and my subsequent encounter with the Holy Spirit as a result, changed my future, my ministry, and my life.
So where are you supposed to be?
Are you doing a good thing, just not the right thing?
Do you always feel like there is something more — that you are missing the mark even though you are succeeding where you are?
Are you doing good enough to fail?
I’ve heard it said that “good enough is the enemy of great”. Are you in an environment that thrives on good enough, but never seems to get beyond that ceiling to the open skies of unlimited possibility?
We are called to an abundant life in Christ, not a life of mediocrity. We are called to be overcomers, not settlers. We are called to a place of destiny and purpose, not a life on the fringes. Jesus said in John 10…
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Stop giving in to the dream-thieves. Stop listening to the voices that tell you this is all there is. Stop being content to settle for good enough. Get to that place of destiny and purpose you are meant for — that you are called to— and the future God has in store for you could be something more amazing than you could have ever imagined.
The Heart of Abba - Ron Phillips 