We at Assignments International are committed to walking alongside others who are “on Assignment,” or who are seeking their God-given purpose
Receiving one’s assignment first of all assumes there is a giver of assignments. The extent to which we can notice, appreciate, communicate with, and know the Giver of our assignments is the degree to which we can begin to comprehend the Giver’s love and purpose for each being the Giver creates. The extend to which we apprehend let go of one’s daily personal agendas and open one’s spiritual senses to and ultimately surrender one’s with this giver.
Once one has an idea of who the Giver is, I spent my youth thinking I was meant to live a significant life, and strived to be great at what I did, but alas, … I was not great at what I did. To be clear, I was not bad, I was not awful, but nor was I great. I was fine. I was good enough.
building my faith by communicating often and candidly with God about my feelings while somewhat oblivious to my shortcomings. My young adult years were spent finding out what my shortcomings, reactions, and vices were and learning how to fix and submit them to . I spent my mid-life happen at any time, but a few preliminary steps make way for discernment and ultimately, for fulfillment.
First, one needs to firmlyhings that stand out from the ordinary and move by faith toward seeing what is unfolding. Success and fulfillment come when someone can determine that something is worth putting one’s life on the line through expressions that demand faith and sacrifice. Finding one’s assignments is easy compared to how one embraces and lives them out. Much damage has been done to the world because of partially developed hunches and under-managed egos.
Effectiveness in discerning and staying on course to participate with God to accomplish his purposes requires much attention to one’s ego (soul/psyche) and one’s spirit (conscience).
Romans 2:1 starts off as Paul addresses those who are being led by their egos saying, “you, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”
When we judge others, it is because our egos are not in a submissive posture. We easily become critical and are thus viewed as hypocritical because our egos are biased self-preservers and will find justification for why it is ok for me but not ok for you to break the very same laws.
After explaining what happens to those who follow their egos Paul then explains that, whether one comes from a Christ-believing background or not, many act as if their consciences have the law written on their hearts (Romans 2:14 ). Paul explains that a Christian believer’s conscience in one’s human spirit which houses the Holy Spirit will then bear witness or testify to “the law” (and God’s presence through the law) and inform the mind and will (parts of the soul) if there is coherence or not with God’s truth. If the truth one holds is not in alignment with God’s truth, the conscience will convict. This conviction may easily go ignored if a believer’s personal agenda rules over a desire to submit to faith in One who is greater.
One may also conclude that if a non-believer, out of one’s conscience, consistently acts in a way that is in line with God’s law, this person actually develops a stronger alignment with God and God’s truth than a Christian believer who does not think or act in alignment with God’s design for humanity.
When we ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit because personal agendas trump God’s nudges, we lose power, authority, and sensitivity to God’s agenda. We cut short our effectiveness while on assignment to execute God’s purposes on earth. Simply put, we may be willing to go “on Assignment” but can still miss the execution point.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 (brackets mine)
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received [in our spirits] is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. . . 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments [from the ego], 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
The development of the conscience is a process by which one’s spirit interacts with the Holy Spirit through faith. The ego seeks to preserve and build up the self. When one makes faith choices, one will often start off by being at odds with one’s ego. Over time, one’s conscience can build confidence in faith in God and God’s spiritual resources which far surpass what the ego is able to access, since it is limited by a single person’s reach.
When one monitors the ego and learns to submit consistently by faith to God’s greater design and blueprints for a greater good, a maturation develops higher levels of effectiveness on one’s assignments.
The question, “what is my assignment?” should also prompt the questions, “what is God’s purpose for humanity?” and “what is God’s purpose for my existence?” which are broader questions that shape the form and execution of “my assignment.” This is a discussion for another essay. When one builds coherence in these broader questions, the following steps may be examined. If one is still lacking peace and clarity with God’s purpose for humanity and for me personally, it is perhaps prudent to stop here.
Although there are many stresses, vices and distractions that can pull someone away from receiving their assignments, the most detrimental and common hindrance for the truly authentic seeker is the pull toward defending one’s soulish desires expressed by the ego. If one is truly seeking a breakthrough into understanding their life purpose, call and assignments, there are a few steps to consider. They include 1) Identifying one’s ego, 2) Surrender one’s ego, 3) Drawing near to one’s Savior, and 4) Receiving our assignments.
Identifying One’s Ego
If you are like me, there is one voice in my head that is particularly persistent, opportunistic, judgmental, and sometimes unbearable. It is the voice that awakens me into a sweat, reminding me that even though everything has been going extremely well, disaster or loss looms right around the corner, and I am just one step closer to death. It’s the voice that plays back the arguments in my head about why I am right, and you are wrong. It can also remind me about that awful awkward moment when I said something that embarrassed you in public, the voice that reminded me about the time when I caught myself telling a white lie that I know would come back to bite me if I didn’t undo the damage or change my story going forward. This self-preserving, purpose-driven voice that longs for significance is what Sigmund Freud popularized as the “ego.” It is the voice that is concerned with me, over and above everyone else.
Let me preface by saying the ego is not evil, it just needs to be identified, understood, and submitted. It plays a necessary part of one’s survival, growth, bonding, success, and development of healthy relationships.
My ego helps me to know who I am and how I am separated from my surroundings. In one’s earliest days, one must learn “this is me” and “this is mine.” What is “mine” first applies to possessions: “these are my eyes,” “this is my stuffed animal.” As one interacts socially, “this is my mommy,” “this is my best friend,” “this is my club.” As one learns competence, “these are my grades,” “this is my handwriting,” “this is my skill set.” Success comes about as the ego embraces its ability to acknowledge its resources, set goals and achieve them.
The ego plays an active part in forming new relationships as two people become interested in each other and seek to interact. As a relationship buds, my ego reflects on myself, then on the other person, then back on myself. I wonder, “am I good enough for them to like me?” “Are they good enough for me to like them?” “Will my friends like them?” “Will my relating to them move me up or down in my standing with my other friends?” “Will I like their friends and family?” “Will they like mine?” And so the dance goes between two egos learning how to fit with each other, then taking a step forward or backward. Relationships always involve egos, and because an ego instinctively defends what I call “mine,” it will judge when imposed upon and lash out when wronged. It will strategize and conspire how to gain back good standing when embarrassed or overstepped.
Yet, only when the ego is heard, loved, and understood, can it wholly submit to the will of a higher source thus paving the way to receiving the assignment slated for it.
Surrendering One’s Ego
Some find it is easy to believe there is a God, a “knowable someone” who is one’s Creator and the source of all things. For others it is too hard to imagine there is someone else more reliable than I, who would care about me than I do. Some refuse to hope in someone so great and so good until it is all that is left to believe in.
Whatever degree of certainty one has before surrendering does not matter as much as whether or not one is able to surrender. Surrender is real and entire. It feels both reckless to give away control of one’s life and yet helpless that if one does not, then there is nothing else left. In that way, surrendering is both scary and peaceful all at once.
Jesus said, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25 (NIV)
While the ego never really dies because it is necessary for living healthy, successful and relational lives, it must learn the practice of submitting as if dead. Submitting can actually become an enjoyable life-giving discipline through structured meditation, though even after this, the ego will unexpectedly emerge at any stage of maturity to fight to survive whenever one’s possessions, significant relationships, ideologies, or reputations are threatened. There is no mastering of one’s ego, only acknowledgement and submittal to a higher force.
Yet, only when the ego is heard, loved, and understood, can it wholly submit to the will of a higher source thus paving the way to receiving the assignment slated for it.
Drawing Near to One’s Savior
The act of submitting our egos to each other and to a higher force is by itself a principle that will position one for success and relational stability but knowing this higher force personally will bring us into our life purpose and assignments in a dynamic and deeply satisfying way.
Whether or not one believes Jesus, the man who talked about the kernel of wheat, is also the Creator God in the form of a human, one can at least acknowledge he spoke with the authority of someone who understood this concept, and he lived his life constantly submitting his will (ego) to his Father. He spoke of his relationship with his Father as “intimate” and told his followers they could and would experience the same intimacy because of his submission to a reconciling act of a brutally undeserved death on the cross, taking punishment for the crimes of all humanity on his own back.
One thing we can all relate to is the story of human suffering. God who understood the condition of the human experience which so often reacts out of pain and fear of pain sent his only son to experience actual emotional and physical torture on his path to the cross and thus mediated and reconciled what could only be done by experiencing the pain himself.
This is the compassionate and self-sacrificing Creator and Savior we draw near to by faith, who knows our condition, our design, who established his purposes for us from the beginning of time.
Intimacy with our Creator may or may not come naturally. For some, faith and relationship were values and mindsets instilled early on. For others, rejection or trauma may have developed into their primary lens in seeing the world. Isaiah said, “Woe to me! I am undone!” when coming face to face the Lord. All of us will have worldly perceptions that need to be worked through and undone when truly encountering the God of the universe.
This can and will be a messy and painful process when our egos are still vying for attention, but the journey of falling in love with our Creator and learning firsthand about who we are designed to be is the most fulfilling path we can be on.
God not only knows and loves us, He wants to be known by us and walk together with us. When we hunger for God’s presence, we become fully present to him. There is nothing more thrilling than being in this dynamic relationship when both parties are completely present.
Receiving One’s Assignments
Assignments come out of this dynamic relationship. One of the patterns I notice in my own journey is that an assignment is preceded by a nudge to do something I don’t want to do: paying for something that costs too much or giving away money to someone or something I don’t feel like giving to. Giving up something always helps me to put a check on my ego. Glorifying one’s assignment is counter-productive to what God knows will give us joy.
Once I respond by faith in doing the counter-intuitive thing my ego wanted to do, I find my conscience is further activated to hear more specifics on what my assignment is. When the conscience operates in coherence with one’s understanding of who God is, an assignment unfolds with clarity. When there is dissonance, one may find the need to “clear one’s conscience,” so to speak.
Saul, prior to becoming the Apostle Paul operated through works and conviction without revelation in defending the Jewish faith as a pharisee. Upon encountering the Lord, the Holy Spirit bore witness in his conscience that the belief system he had been operating on was actually persecuting the God he was trying to please. Luke spoke of his transformation in Acts 9 and the subsequent change of name and direction, operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking with authority when he journeyed into strange lands, and choosing faith over ego. Miracles became normative and dreams and visions were expected, interpreted, and executed according to what he believed God was saying.
The assignments I have been on have never turned out the way I would have expected but they always leave me amazed and more in love with my Creator.
We at Assignments International are committed to welcoming and walking alongside others who are “On Assignment,” or who are seeking their assignment.