Know Your Assignment

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the LORD answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” -Habakkuk 2:1-3

The righteous will live by faith.

What is faith when you have done everything to stand, but are faced with the disappointments of life? What is faith when your tears leave you curled up unable to leave your bed out of grief? What is faith when nothing make sense and you’re left with no answers? What is faith when fear and worry wake you up in the middle of the night?

Our assignments in life are never a one size fits all. Sometimes an assignment is for a lifetime. Spouse. Parent. Son. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. These are examples of assignments that are forever a part of your life. Other assignments from the Lord are seasonal. You may be sent on mission to a specific town or job. You may be called to start a Bible study. You may be sent to a different country. You may be sent to work in a specific industry. These assignments or callings are not necessarily forever. These are seasonal. The Lord will send you into these places to walk out your purpose, to carry His name and His glory into the world, and then He may transition you out and tell you to go somewhere new.

Yet, I cannot fully walk into my next assignment if I’m still carrying the baggage of the last assignment. Why, you may ask? If you have been walking with the Lord for any amount of time and walking by faith and in obedience to the teachings of Jesus then you will understand the amount of spiritual warfare that comes when you jump out of the boat and say “yes” to following Him. Each assignment comes with a deeper call to prayer and a deeper need to be able to hear the heart of the Father. Each assignment is filled with arrows from the enemy that come viciously trying to get us to take our eyes off of Him.

Disappointment, confusion, grief, fear, physical ailments, unforgiveness, bitterness, offense, broken hearts, betrayal, trauma, abuse, idols, misjudgments, long waiting seasons, unanswered prayers, loss, and so on and so forth all have the potential to stick to us. They fall into the unhealed places of our hearts while we’re transitioning from one season to the next. They can cloud our judgement. They can cause extreme exhaustion. They can lead to burnout and complete overwhelm of our heart, mind, emotions, and even to our physical bodies. They can cause our nervous systems to shut down. They can cause physical sickness. They can leave us dragging baggage around way longer than we ever should.

This is why it is so important to know our assignments. If I don’t know my assignment from the Lord for today then I can’t see far enough ahead to know that today I’m called to pray for the soul of my abuser. If I don’t know my assignment I won’t know when it’s time to stand and fight or lay my Isaac on the altar. If I don’t know my assignment, then I won’t know when God says go and it’s time to move on to the next place. If I don’t know my assignment then I don’t know that the cost is worth it, that Jesus is worthy of my life laid down.

If I don’t know my assignment, then I am at the great risk of being left defeated, unable to move under the weight of past seasons and things that I just don’t understand.

We are in a season where now more than ever we need to know our current assignments of today. How do we know our assignments? By drawing away into the secret place and removing every distraction. By surrendering all of our thoughts, pride, fear, pain, and baggage of last season at the feet of Jesus. By worshipping and praying not just for five minutes, but until the Holy Spirit says it’s done. And by listening, by staying silent and waiting for the presence of God to enter in and speak clearly to us.

How does God talk to you? How do you know the direction of the Holy Spirit? Are you a hearer, a seer, a feeler, or a knower? God is not keeping His heart from you. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to know the plans He has for your life. He is not far from you and He is not keeping things from you to tease you. The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever and He is longing for you to draw near to Him. He is longing for you to open up your Bible and let His Word dive deep into your heart.

Sometimes God feels silent in our lives not because He’s actually silent, but because we’ve forgotten our assignment for today. We’ve forgotten what He’s already said. We’ve forgotten to write down the vision and make it plain or because we’ve grown impatient in the waiting.

For some of you God has spoken to you about things that are so far into the future because He’s calling you to stand with Him in faith not just in intersession for your own life but because those very dreams and desires He’s shown you and has placed inside of you are going to impact nations and generation after generation for the glory of God. You’re not crazy! God is going to teach you that you know His voice and you know His heart through this process of transition. But, you must know your assignment from heaven for today so that you can recognize His love and His goodness in the midst of real life circumstances that just don’t make sense.

Put on the full armor of God and stand! Do not let what you see swirling around you in the natural steal your faith for what the Lord has told you He is doing. Your job is to partner with God to bring heaven to earth. What does that look like for your assignment today? What scripture has He told you to hide in your heart? What dream or vision do you need to write down and pray through? What things from last season do you need to lay down and worship through?

Exodus 13:17-18 tells us, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, ‘Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.’ But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.”

Moses knew his assignment to lead the people out of slavery. He heard the voice of God and he moved forward by faith even when God led them by the way of the wilderness. And what happened? They arrived at the Red Sea equipped for battle, strengthened by the Lord, ready to move forward by faith to receive the miracle that they were waiting for.

The righteous will live by faith.

Take your stand at your watchpost, write the vision, make it plain, wait for the appointed time. When God’s timing aligns with His promises the miracles begin. If I do not know my assignment I will lose sight of God’s faithfulness. I will forget His promises. I will cave to the burdens of last season. If I put aside what He’s told me then my faith will lie wasted in things that do not matter and my heart will cave to the defeat of what I see.

Pick up your assignment. Are you called to pray for someone’s salvation? Pick it up. Are you called to lay your Isaac at the altar? Lay it down. Are you called to write a book? Start today.

When you know your assignment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; no burden, no defeat, no circumstance, no amount of time, and no attack from the enemy can keep you from the love and purposes of God.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

-Colossians 2:6-7

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

-1 Corinthians 15:58

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