God Is Looking for a Man to Stand in the Gap: Will You Say Here I Am?

Introduction

Invited one Sunday to Elim Paris Church, Pastor Steve Jaffar came with his wife and a message he has carried for years : man's place in creation. His conviction is simple. When you understand your place and your role, your life changes. Not because you become more powerful, but because you finally stop fighting against what God has placed inside you.

The message starts with a striking image : when God created man, the Bible says all of creation burst into shouts of joy (Job 38:7). The angels, the heavenly beings, the whole council of heaven applauded. Why? Because they understood what God had just done. Something was still missing on the earth. And that missing piece is you.

Outline of the Message

1. The Spiritual World Is Ordered: God Honors His Own Protocol

In Daniel 10, the angel Gabriel explains to Daniel why his answer took twenty-one days to arrive : "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me." (Daniel 10:13).
Steve Jaffar points out that the Hebrew word sar means "prince" or "chief," used in this passage to describe a spiritual authority assigned over a territory. Michael is described elsewhere as "the great prince who stands for the children of your people" (Daniel 12:1).
The pastoral takeaway : even Gabriel has to honor a heavenly order. That does not make God any less powerful. He is faithful to what he himself has established. His word cannot return empty (Isaiah 55:11), and he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).

2. Psalm 82: God Judges the Assembly and Entrusts the Earth to His Son

"God stands in the congregation of God. He judges among the gods." (Psalm 82:1). The preacher reads this psalm as a council scene : God rebukes those to whom he gave authority for failing to bring justice to the weak, the orphans, the poor.
The psalm closes with a cry : "Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations." (Psalm 82:8). For Steve Jaffar, this cry anticipates the coming of Jesus, the one who comes to restore the justice that others let collapse.
This is a Divine Council reading worth flagging : some evangelical commentators prefer to see the "gods" of Psalm 82 as human judges of Israel, as Jesus seems to suggest in John 10:34-35. Both readings exist across church history. What stays constant is the outcome : God never lets injustice have the last word.

3. Adam at the Center: Creation Rejoices Because It Is Waiting for a Partner for the Earth

When God created man, the Bible says "it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Job 38:7 adds that at the founding of the world, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."
The preacher draws a conclusion : creation was waiting for someone to steward the earth. God places Adam in the garden and brings the animals to him to be named (Genesis 2:19). God takes the risk of trusting. He loves man so much that he lets him learn, make mistakes, and search.
Your place is not something you earned. It is a place God prepared from eternity. And he did not give it to an angel; he gave it to you.

4. The Enemy's Strategy Has Never Changed: Attack Your Identity

Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 describe the fall of an exalted being, images Christian tradition often connects to Satan. What brought him down was the desire to be "like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14).
When he came to tempt Adam and Eve, he attacked that exact spot : "You will be like God." (Genesis 3:5). His strategy : convince you that you are missing something you must get for yourself, by your own strength.
When he came to tempt Jesus in the desert, same angle : "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." (Matthew 4:3). Three times in a row, he attacks identity, not appetite.
He does the same with you. If you were really a child of God, you shouldn't have that thought. If you were really saved, you wouldn't struggle like this. The biblical path is not becoming perfect in order to be loved. It is the reverse : God makes you like himself so that you become able to do what is right. The Holy Spirit does the work on the inside.

5. Walk by the Spirit, Not Against the Flesh

"Walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16). Paul does not say to chase the flesh away; he says to walk by the Spirit. As you move toward the right side, the other one gets pushed out.
Peter develops the same idea : if the qualities that come from the Spirit (faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, godliness, brotherly affection, love), "are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8). These qualities echo the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. That is not a coincidence.
The Christian's fight is not to be perfect; it is to tune your ear toward what is perfect. If you build your own religious system by hand without listening to the Holy Spirit, you are preaching your own vision, not the gospel.

6. Jesus Publicly Triumphed Over the Powers

"Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:15). Steve Jaffar notes that Paul borrows the image of a Roman triumph : a victorious general paraded through the city displaying the conquered kings in chains.
In other words, Jesus did not win a small, quiet victory. He paraded the defeat of everything that claimed to rule over our lives. "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." (Matthew 28:18).
"You are seated with him in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 2:6). Our spiritual position is no longer a lost place. It is received in Christ.

7. "I Sought for a Man": The Gap

The heart of the message : "I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none." (Ezekiel 22:30).
Abraham negotiates for Sodom (Genesis 18:22-33). Moses holds back God's hand at the foot of the golden calf (Exodus 32:11-14). The Lord is still looking today for faces who will agree to carry this place.
"The whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now; it eagerly waits for the revealing of the children of God." (Romans 8:19-22). God intended that "through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 3:10).
Steve Jaffar recalls the Lord's word to Samuel : once you are called, you no longer have the right to shrink back and hide (see 1 Samuel 3 and Jeremiah 1:6-8, "Don't say, 'I am a child'").

8. A Testimony: Starting With "Here I Am"

The preacher shares his own story. More than ten years ago, God asked him to write a book. He was afraid of what other pastors would think. He never wrote it. Recently, a pastor friend sent him a manuscript to review : it was almost word for word what the Lord had asked him to write. He wept. For two reasons : the hardness of his own heart, and the fact that God had waited more than ten years to find someone willing.
Since then, his rule is simple : whatever God asks him to do, he says yes. He left his permanent job to go freelance while remaining a pastor, because God told him : "I am looking for pastors able to watch how the world works, and then tell the church what the world needs."
His question for you : Where is God looking for you? If you don't know your calling, start by saying, "Whatever you ask me to do, I will do." The calling is revealed as you walk. Those who help a church grow are often the ones who started by setting up chairs, caring for children, serving in the kitchen.

Key Takeaways

Your place in creation is not an accessory. God made the world with a role reserved for you.
The spiritual world is ordered. God is faithful to his own protocol, and prayer finds its meaning within that order.
The enemy's strategy is always the same : make you doubt your identity so he can keep you still.
The Christian fight is not chasing away the flesh; it is walking by the Spirit. Order matters.
The cross disarmed the powers. Your status is settled in Christ, not by your performance.
God is looking for someone to stand in the gap. He is not waiting for superheroes; he is waiting for "here I am."
The calling is discovered through concrete obedience, not by waiting for a perfect revelation.

Personal Application

Where is the enemy currently trying to make you doubt your identity as a son or daughter of God?
Where are you when it comes to the difference between "chasing away the flesh" and "walking by the Spirit"? What are you still trying to do by your own willpower?
Is there a situation, a city, a family for which God is asking you to stand in the gap in prayer? How long have you been putting off that call?
What concrete thing has God been asking of you for a long time that you keep delaying out of fear of what others will think?
Who can you tell this week, like Isaiah 6:8 : "Here I am. Send me"?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to "stand in the gap" in the Bible?

The image comes from Ezekiel 22:30. In a wall under attack, the gap is the weak point where the enemy can break through. Standing in the gap means taking a position to prevent disaster : praying, interceding, pleading before God on behalf of a people, a city, a family. You see it with Abraham for Sodom, Moses at the foot of the golden calf, and the prophets who carried Israel. God is still looking today for men and women who will accept this weight before him, rather than commenting on the ruin from a distance.

Does God really need me to act?

God remains all-powerful and sovereign. He needs no one to exist or to accomplish his will (Acts 17:24-25). But in his love, he chose to bring you into his work. The Bible shows him regularly looking for an intercessor before he acts : it is a pastoral choice, not a limit on his power. Your prayer matters because God decided it would matter. Believing that is not pride, it is taking his word seriously.

How can I know exactly what God is calling me to?

The pastor offers a very practical path. Start by telling the Lord : "Whatever you ask of me, I will do." Make yourself available for the simple tasks around you : welcoming people, cleaning, children's ministry, technical work, prayer, visiting someone who is isolated. The calling is revealed along the way, in obedience. If you wait until you are certain before moving, you will stay a spectator. God often entrusts vision to the one who first agreed to be a servant, and he places along the road the people who will confirm your next step.

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