Completing our God given assignment

(Message by Philip Joseph on 13th December, 2009.)

Moses prayed in Psalm 90:12 “Lord teach us to value our life, so that we may live wisely”. As we come close to yet another year, we need to pause & reflect. Time passes so quickly & we find that months & even years just go by so fast. All of us value money. We are careful in spending, since we know that we have limited money. Similarly we need to value our life & time. Money lost can be regained, but time lost is gone forever. We can’t do anything for the time/years spent, but we need to value our remaining lifetime, so that we can spend it wisely.

David said in Psalm 139:16, “In your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, even before I was born”. God has a specific assignment for each of us. He has planned our life even before we were born. The Lord says that “I know the plans that I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11). We may not fully know His plan, but He certainly does have a plan for each of us. His ways & His thoughts are not as our ways & thoughts. In fact the gap can be as huge as heaven from earth! (Isaiah 55:8,9). God wants us to cooperate with Him & choose His ways,plans & thoughts for our life. Just as He gave Adam a choice, even so He gives each of us a choice to go our own way or His way.
Today I would like to share with you the following 5 principles of how we can fulfill our God given assignment :

1. Have a desire/passion like DAVID
The Lord said about David that he was a “man after my own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22). David was an ordinary shepherd boy. He was the youngest of Jesse’s sons & seemed insignificant. When the prophet Samuel invited Jesse & his sons for the sacrifice (I Samuel 16:11), Jesse did not even call David. David felt rejection & loneliness. We find this echoed in some of his psalms. For his company he had only sheep for most of the time! But even in this situation, he drew close to God & found God to be his companion. David knew God had an assignment for him & he was passionate in drawing close to God & fulfill God’s purposes. The Lord says that “If you seek Me, you will find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart”. (Jeremiah 29:13). If we earnestly seek Him, we shall certainly discover God’s assignment & plan for our lives.


2. Keep an eye on & be focused like Archippus was instructed
Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Colosse, has a specific instruction for Archippus.
He was told to “keep an eye on the ministry that you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.“ (Colossians 4:17). Paul recognized the potential & calling that Archippus had & hence instructed him to be focused. We should also learn to be focused. Life goes by so quickly & unless we stay focused it is easy to drift off. We’ll find years of life gone by! It’s easy to be distracted & be involved in dozens of activities & miss out on our primary assignment. God has given each of us a unique ministry, which we should focus on. As we stay focused we will be able to complete our assignment.

3. Concentrate on our own assignment like John the Baptist
The Bible says in Acts 13:25, that while “john was completing his course … he kept saying I am not the Messiah”. An angel had told John’s father Zachariah that he would get a son, who will be a forerunner before the Messiah. As John grew up, he was told of his assignment. We find that John was so focused & obsessed about his ministry. The Jews had seen a true prophet after 400 years. The nation of Israel was stirred up as John began to minister. Some even asked John if he was the Messiah. John flatly rejected it by saying that he was not even worthy to untie the Messiah’s sandals! John fully concentrated on his own assignment & didn’t imitate anyone. As human beings, we have a tendency to be a busybody in other peoples affairs, instead of concentrating on our own calling. When our Lord was telling Peter about his future, he was interested in John’s future. But Jesus rebuked him & told him to mind his own business! (John 21:21,22).

4. Surrender our will to God’s will like Jesus
While Jesus was on earth, he had his own will. He said that He “has come from heaven not to do his own will, but God’s will”(John 6:38). Jesus surrendered his own will, so that God’s will would be done. As long as our will matches God’s will, it’s easy to do it. But in situations in our life when we want to do something else & we find that God’s will is different, we must learn to say like Jesus “Not my will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). This was a time in Jesus’ life in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is not only in crisis situations, but also in daily life, that we are to pray “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Since Jesus fully & always surrendered his will to God, at the end of his life he said “Father, I have accomplished the work that You gave me to do” (John 17:4). He then went up on the cross & before dying said “It is finished” (John 19:30). It’s not how long we live on earth that matters, but whether we complete our God given assignment.

5. Pay any price like Paul
Paul said in Acts 20:23,24 that he “does not consider his life of any account as dear to himself, so that he may finish his course”. Paul was determined to pay any price to complete his God given assignment. At one point in his life, he was on his way to Jerusalem & knew that prison & sufferings await him. But he was determined to go! En route he stopped at Caesarea & met the prophet Agabus who told him that he would be bound in Jerusalem & handed over to the Romans. On hearing this prophecy, Paul’s companions tried to persuade him from not moving on. (Acts 21:12). But Paul insisted on proceeding, since he knew it was God’s will for him (Acts 21:14). He was arrested in Jerusalem & was in prison in Caesarea & under house-arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30). During this time too, God used Paul to minister to people & write some of the New Testament letters! Before Paul died, he could say “I have finished my course” (2 Timothy 4:7)
We too can complete our God given course & assignment as we put these principles to practice in our own lives. God the Father is actively working in all our external circumstances, so that we can fulfill His purpose for us (Romans 8:28). God the Son intercedes for us so that we can do His will. (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). God the Holy Spirit works within us to make us willing & able to do His will. (Philippians 2:13). Hence let us cooperate with God, so that we may complete our earthly assignment & have no regrets in eternity.