Perhaps the Lord is reminding me that my identity is not in being heard in the room — it is in being known by Him.
“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” — Matthew 6:4
by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
Positioning has everything to do with the placement of our lives and our purpose, but it has nothing to do with ambition, self-promotion, or manipulation. True positioning is the place the Lord assigns to us day by day. It is not seized — it is received.
When Jesus walked with His disciples, He was constantly positioning them.
In the rabbinical midrash tradition, a disciple did not simply listen to teaching — he lived with his rabbi. He memorized his words, absorbed his mannerisms, repeated the Scriptures, and learned through parables and daily life. The twelve left their professions, their routines, and their familiar environments so they could walk closely enough to Jesus to become like Him. He was not only teaching them. He was forming them. He was protecting them. He was preparing them. He positioned them so that one day they would be recognizable as His as little emulators of Christ — which is the very meaning of the word Christian.
How strategic our Savior was during His earthly ministry! How much more strategic is He now that He is seated at the right hand of the Father?
So the question becomes: where have we allowed ourselves to be positioned?
Are we sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning His speech, His heart, His love, and His ways? Or are we wandering from one man-made opportunity to the next, chasing recognition that was never meant to define us?
The Kingdom of Jesus is not built on a human system of status and advancement. The day of your favor was the day He drank the bitter cup. The day of your redemption was the day He gave His life on the cross. You do not position yourself into the Kingdom — you are placed there by grace.
Yet, when we become consumed with the structures, accolades, and measurements of the world, we slowly exchange discipleship for idolatry. We stop imitating Christ and begin imitating a system that cannot give life, and the worldly path always leads to destruction — of our intimacy with Him, of our calling, and often of our families.
How Do We Come Into God-Ordained Positioning?
We return to the feet of Jesus.
“Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching.” — Luke 10:39
Positioning begins in surrender, not striving. It is formed in the secret place, not on a platform. It grows through obedience in the daily, unseen moments. We are positioned when:
- we choose presence over recognition
- we choose formation over advancement
- we choose obedience over opportunity
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” — James 4:10
The Lord knows where you need to be. He knows what you are ready to begin or to end. He knows what must be formed in you before you are sent. Your only assignment is to stay close enough to become like Him because the goal of positioning is not influence. It is transformation.
Positioned in the Hidden Place
As I was hanging up my choir robe this week, a fellow choir member said to me,
“I wouldn’t know you were here if I couldn’t see you. You never say anything.”
For a brief moment, the words settled heavily on my heart. In another season, I might have rushed to explain who I had been — a teacher, a leader, a worship leader, a voice that carried. I might have felt the need to establish my presence in the room; however, the Lord has been teaching me something deeper about positioning.
Positioning in the Kingdom is not about being noticed in a space — it is about being placed in Christ.
“He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” — Ephesians 2:6
My true position was never the front of a classroom, the center of a stage, or even a recognized place in a choir loft. My position is seated with Him. Hidden in Him. Established in Him. My position in Jesus comes my purpose:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” — Ephesians 2:10
So this quiet season is not a lack of placement — it is a prepared place. I am not overlooked. I am being formed. The Kingdom does not function like the systems of the world that measure value by visibility and voice. In Christ, my identity was already declared:
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.” — 1 Peter 2:9
Chosen.
Royal.
Holy.
His.
Not when I speak —
not when I lead —
but because I belong to Him.
So I stand in the choir and I sing, even when I am unknown in the room because I am not singing for the room.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.” — Colossians 3:23–24
My offering is not diminished by quietness, and my worship is not reduced by hiddenness. My obedience is not measured by recognition. This is what it means to be properly positioned: I must seek first His Kingdom, not my place in it.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33
Positioning is not something I achieve. It is where I remain when I choose Him above being known.
The Positional Anchor
I am not trying to find my place in the room, butI am living from my place in Christ.
From that position — already seated, already chosen, already purposed — I am free to be quiet, to learn, to serve, to sing, and to be formed without striving. Because in the Kingdom, hiddenness is not misplacement. Remaining in the secret place is often the clearest evidence that we have been placed exactly where we belong.
The one who is seated with Christ does not have to fight for position — she only has to abide where she has been planted, and in due season she will bloom.
A Reflection: Repositioned for Relationship
Perhaps the Lord is not asking you to do more. Perhaps He is asking you to come closer. If you feel the pull to be seen, to be heard, to secure your place in a room, remember that the invitation of Jesus has never been toward visibility. It has always been toward discipleship. His call is not upward into prominence but inward into relationship.
After the resurrection, there were no crowds on the shoreline. There were no multitudes pressing in and no public miracles unfolding in the sand. The disciples returned to fishing, to what was familiar, and Jesus stood on the shore — unrecognized — tending a small charcoal fire.
The Savior of the world was cooking breakfast. Bread was prepared. Fish was turned over the flame. The One who had conquered death was serving His friends in the quiet of the morning. It was ordinary, yet sacred at the same time.
“Come and have breakfast.” — John 21:12
Before the sending, there was sitting. Before the commission, there was communion. That simple meal became the positioning of their hearts. The Bread of Life broke bread with the hungry–the Teacher with His pupils.
This mundane task exists as His invitation. The invitation never included self reliance or stubborn ambition. The Redeemer of the world never said:
Come and build your platform.
Come and make your name known.
Come and be affirmed by the crowd.
Jesus simply served and said, “…have breakfast.”
Peter was not restored in front of the multitude. His recommissioning came beside the fire, in the quiet, in the place of personal love and direct conversation. Three questions. Three affirmations. A heart repositioned before a world was ever changed. Discipleship over visibility. Relationship over recognition. Abiding over ambition.
So if the Lord is asking you to step back, to grow quiet, to learn the rhythm of listening again, do not mistake that for loss. You are not being removed — you are being invited. You are being drawn closer to the fire.
That ordinary morning on the shore was the last intimate moment before everything changed. Soon they would be sent into the world. Soon history would turn. But first, there was breakfast. First, there was presence. First, there was love. This is the position from which all true sending comes.
Ask yourself:
Where am I striving to be visible when Jesus is inviting me to be present with Him?
Where am I pursuing recognition when He is preparing relationship?
Do I want a place in the crowd — or a seat by the fire? The world was changed not by the noise of that morning, but by the disciples who sat down and ate with Him.
Repositioning is not moving backward. It is stepping closer to the fire where disciples are formed.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
I praise You as the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Thank You for the cross that redeemed me, for the empty tomb that secured my future, and for the grace that has seated me with You in the heavenly places — not because of my striving, but because of Your great mercy.
You have positioned my life in ways I did not earn and could not orchestrate. You drew me near, placed me at Your table, and called me Your own. What a holy privilege it is to belong to You.
Bequeath to me again the Bread of Life. Feed my heart with Your presence until all striving is quieted and all ambition bows before Your will. Form in me the awareness of a true disciple — one who follows You faithfully, even in the hidden places, even in the quiet rooms, even when the only sound is the hunger of the lambs You love.
Teach me to serve where You have placed me. Teach me to listen for Your voice above every other. Let my life be an offering that is pleasing to You whether it is seen by many or known only by You.
Keep me abiding at the fire. Keep me near Your heart. Keep me faithful to the position You have given me — seated with You, learning from You, becoming like You. When You break the bread, let me always be found at Your feet, ready to receive, ready to follow, ready to love.
Jesus, in Your holy and beautiful name,
Amen.
For prayerful reflection this week:
Where has the Lord positioned me to be formed rather than seen?
Scripture Reference List
Our Position in Christ
- Ephesians 2:6 – Seated with Him in the heavenly places
- Ephesians 2:10 – His workmanship, created for good works
- Colossians 3:1–4 – Set your minds on things above; your life hidden in Christ
Abiding & the Bread of Life
- John 15:4–8 – Abide in Me and bear much fruit
- John 6:35 – I am the Bread of Life
- Psalm 34:8 – Taste and see that the Lord is good
The Breakfast on the Shore (Discipleship Before Sending)
- John 21:1–17 – “Come and have breakfast” / Peter restored
- Luke 10:39–42 – Mary at the feet of Jesus
Kingdom Positioning & Priority
- Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the Kingdom
- James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord
- Psalm 75:6–7 – Promotion comes from the Lord
Serving the Lord in Hidden Places
- Colossians 3:23–24 – Work heartily as for the Lord
- Matthew 6:4, 6 – Your Father who sees in secret
- Zechariah 4:10 – Do not despise small beginnings
Identity & Calling as His People
- 1 Peter 2:9 – A chosen people, a royal priesthood
- John 10:14–15 – The Good Shepherd and His sheep
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