One of the first things to understand about the Promised Land is that it is not simply a place of material blessing. Money, tropical vacations, stock portfolios, good-looking kids who make the honor roll … none of these does justice to the picture God has in mind. Far too many of us get sidetracked because we only focus on what we might get from God to make us more comfortable.
Nor is the Promised Land a place of getting to relax and do nothing. Yes, many people today are stressed and overscheduled, wishing for some time off. But if that is your definition of realizing God's favor in your life, you will be disappointed.
Think about this: If I were to spend three days sitting and watching TV for eight hours a day, eating cookies and cheese doodles, I should be well rested, right? I've saved all kinds of energy, since I've hardly budged from my favorite chair.
Actually, the opposite is true. I will get tired just heading up the stairs to go to bed. My life of total leisure has actually sapped me of my strength.
Muscle tone is developed and energy is created not by doing nothing, but by doing something. This principle holds true in the spiritual realm as well. It is why so many Christians lack the fulfillment and strength God wants them to have. They have not yet found their personal work assignment in God's overall plan, which was conceived by him long before they even became Christians. Their days and weeks lack a sense of individual purpose and drive. They are like the Dead Sea, with fresh water flowing in but nothing flowing out. As a result, the sea is a salty brew of chemicals that nobody wants to drink.
We all know believers who live with a gnawing lack of fulfillment. Something is definitely missing. They often try to fill the void by buying a new book or CD from a Christian personality. They may switch versions of the Bible. They wonder about changing churches. All of these temporarily distract them without getting to the heart of the matter. The key to filling their emptiness is to discover and then carry out their work assignment from the Lord.
God has called every single Christian to do something special, something mighty, something unique that only he or she can do. God knows your personality. He is the source of all your gifts and strengths. He also knows your great potential to advance his kingdom.
God chose Joshua for a unique assignment, and it was a perfect fit. As soon as Joshua received his commission from God, he ordered the officers of the Israelites, “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’” (Josh. 1:11).
This was the big moment! It signified, “Okay, here we go! This is it! No more sitting around in the desert. Now we get to see God's plan fulfilled for our nation.”
And how did the people react? Verse 16 says: “Then they answered Joshua: ‘Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.’” They sounded excited to be on the move at last. Their dreams were about to become reality.
“The Work of the Lord”
This was the Israelites' special assignment from God. The question for each one of us in the twenty-first century is: What's mine? What specific thing has God planned for me to accomplish in his name? It is probably not to possess physical real estate, the way Joshua and his people conquered the Promised Land. But what does God want you and me to do?
Several verses in the New Testament speak specifically about something called “the work of the Lord,” encouraging us to know what it is and then to follow up with diligence. For example: “My dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). The next chapter mentions Paul's young associate Timothy, who “is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am” (1 Cor. 16:10).
Near the end of his letter to the Colossians (a church he had never visited but apparently knew something about), Paul included an odd personal note for one person: “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord’” (4:17).
Imagine the drama when this letter was first read in the Colossian church, perhaps by the pastor. People would have been sitting quietly, listening to the apostle's exposition of who Jesus is and how they should serve him. Various doctrinal and practical topics were covered. And then, one man's name was read aloud. If he was present that day, all eyes no doubt turned in his direction. The thrust of the directive was that the Lord had given Archippus a special work to do, a personal calling—and he should keep at it. Don't quit! Don't slack off. Keep going, Archippus!
Was he embarrassed? Had he been wavering in some way? Was he distracted by other things in life? We don't know. But it seems that this sentence was an alert of some kind (“See to it”). Completing the work he had received was to be top priority for this individual.
Everyone who has accepted Christ as Savior is an Archippus. We have received a special assignment from our Lord. Now we must stay with it until the mission is accomplished. This takes endurance and determination. It is easy to become discouraged, especially if we don't see quick results. It is tempting to listen to criticism from those who think we're not doing our work the right way. Or the enemy tells us we are inadequate; we don't have what it takes to complete the assignment. We've made too many mistakes already.
Don't believe the lies of Satan! No matter what you have or haven't done up to this point, God wants you to stay the course. He gave you a mission because he knew you could do it. It's always too soon to quit. It's never too late to get started again.
Special Assignments Come
from the Lord
Any special assignment for you and me is, first and foremost, God's idea. It is not something we concoct by ourselves. For Joshua, the assignment was the long-awaited fulfillment of God's mighty promise going back more than four hundred years. God had singled out this territory for his people a long, long time ago. Now he would make it happen. Joshua was simply his lieutenant to get the Israelites organized.
Our assignment, like Joshua's, is focused in some way on carrying out God's mission. His grand scheme includes two primary objectives: (1) to spread the gospel to all creation, and (2) to nurture those who receive the gospel so that they grow into spiritual maturity. In sum, it's about evangelism and discipleship. As Jesus told the Eleven shortly before he left the earth, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). The Master's goals are all captured in that one sentence.
These are the things that heaven focuses on. When God looks at you and me, he immediately thinks about how to deploy us in his work of evangelism and discipleship. This is different from one's occupation as a teacher, a plumber, a business leader, a secretary, a sales representative, or a dentist. Those are all roles we occupy—hence, the word “occupation.” As important as these are, you don't have to be a Christian to do them. A person can be an atheist and a brilliant surgeon at the same time.
God is about something much more active and far-reaching when he gives us our special assignment. He takes teachers, plumbers, secretaries, and all the rest and says to them, “I, the Lord of the universe, have a big job for you to do! You may not think you're cut out for this, but I do. You're going to help bring about a radical change in this world's landscape, as the Israelites did when they invaded Canaan. Just listen to what I have in mind!”
These assignments take many forms. For some of us, the assignment is to sing in a church choir or be a worship leader. For another, it's to serve the elderly. For others, it is to teach a Bible class or raise money for mission work or translate the Scriptures into a new language or comfort the grieving. Some of us are called to do this full-time, while others make time for this alongside secular employment. Each of us has our own task that God has assigned. All of the tasks synchronize to advance his goals.
Joshua's invasion force needed soldiers, spies, blacksmiths, cooks, equipment organizers, trainers, and dozens of other jobs. Every army needs a variety of roles, and each one is important. What God calls us to do is just as strategic. The various assignments all add up to a powerful force that can lead us into the Promised Land.
Whenever I think about fulfilling a special assignment from God, I give thanks for a woman in our church named Marcela Cabrera. She came to New York from her native Panama to study information systems at one of our universities. Soon she was working for Merrill Lynch, and today she is a vice-president with a major bank, carrying huge responsibility for technology business management. Whenever you talk to Marcela, you sense her calm, unflappable, efficient manner. You can just tell that if something needs to get done and done right, she's the go-to person for the job.
But the world of high finance is not her “assignment” from the Lord. She is the director of the Brooklyn Tabernacle's hospitality ministry, which serves our constant flow of guest singers, speakers, and visitor groups. This is a big job with lots of details to be covered. Marcela has recruited and trained a team of more than sixty hostesses, whom she has on rotation each month. Recently we have added the area of food service administration, since we are operating a cafeteria for people to enjoy before or after services. We also provide meals in a hospitality suite for guest ministers. All of this runs smoothly under Marcela's leadership.
Then there's the matter of couples preparing for their wedding day. Marcela is the coordinator who helps them figure out what to serve and how, what a realistic budget would look like, and how to make their wedding day special.
But that's not all. This woman helps organize all-church picnics and other special events. She also taught a pilot home economics class for young women (and even some young men) on six Saturday afternoons. “I remember how the godly women of the church back in Panama taught us young girls how to sew, how to cook, how to keep a house,” she says. “I guess it's my turn now to pass that kind of knowledge along. Some of these girls really need practical instruction. We even rolled in an actual brass bed to the classroom so I could demonstrate how to make it properly!”
And, oh, yes—in her “spare time” Marcela sings soprano in the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
With all this time-consuming work, she doesn't even have a desk at the church. We did set up an email account for her, which she fields from home.
What does the bank think of all this outside activity? “They're fine about it,” she says. “They want everyone to be involved in some kind of community service, helping a nonprofit organization or project. So obviously, the Brooklyn Tabernacle is my ‘community service’ in their eyes. I put up bits of information on my personal webpage at work—when the choir wins a Grammy award, for example—and my co-workers rejoice with me. When management is looking for somebody to handle the annual March of Dimes campaign in the office, they don't bother asking me; they know I'm already doing my ‘community service’ quota, and then some.”
Marcela Cabrera's “special assignment” from the Lord is critical to the operation of our church. Yes, it utilizes her unique experience in project management, computer programming, and the business meetings she has arranged for her employers not only locally, but in various Latin American hubs (since she's bilingual). But in our mind, she is a gift of God to our ministry for Christ. We don't know what we would do without her joyful contribution of time and energy.
Not everyone's contribution is as far-reaching as Marcela's, to be sure. But whether large or small, each person's assignment serves to advance the divine mission. Everyone is making an impact for the kingdom.
There Are Special Assignments
for Everyone
God has a work assignment for every Christian, not just those of us who are ordained to pastoral and preaching ministry. The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian congregation, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…. To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (4:1, 7). Later he adds, “From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (v. 16).
Receiving Christ into our lives is not the end of something, but the beginning. The next step is to receive and carry out our special assignment. Unfortunately, in too many places Christianity has been reduced to mere mental assent to a list of doctrines. Others have had a genuine salvation experience, but their daily Christian life is now little more than attending a service once a week. Jesus has far more in mind for us than this.
When Joshua organized the invasion of Canaan, he didn't just speak to the priests—the religious leaders. He didn't just call a meeting of all the men ages 18 to 35. He included the entire community, “the people” (Josh. 1:10). No one was exempted.
Not even the fighting men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh got off the hook. These tribes had already received their homesteads east of the Jordan following a previous victory. They could well have begged off from having to join any additional campaign. But in Joshua 1:12–15, the commander said to them, in essence, “You too! Come on with the rest of us. You have a part to play here. Once we take possession of this territory west of the river, then you can go back home. Not before.”
God's mission to spread his gospel around the world and raise up mature disciples is an all-hands-on-deck enterprise. Each one of us has an assignment to fulfill. None of us can just assume that “they” (whoever “they” are) will take care of the need. Everyone has a part to play. We may not think our contribution is all that valuable. But that is wrong. God makes the assignment, not us. And he knows how vital each part is. “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (1 Cor. 12:18).
Many years ago, a modest man of God in England (he never wrote under his full name, but only with his initials, E.D.) made this observation: “We are slow to learn that the importance of any service depends upon God's estimate of it … that the meanest [lowest-ranking] service … is worthy of all our devotedness and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it, and if He has put it into our hand.”1
You have a far more strategic role to play than just filling a church pew and helping to meet the annual budget. God has an assignment designed precisely for you—and this is part of the abundant life you so earnestly crave. As you give yourself to God's special assignment, you will pray more and with a deeper sense of passion. You will hunger for a greater understanding of the Bible and how it applies to your life. You will regularly sense the help of the Holy Spirit, since God always works with those who give themselves to work for him.
If, by contrast, we sadly reduce our relationship with God to a preoccupation with “bless me, bless me,” we will only be frustrated. The more we reach for happiness in life, the more it eludes us. The more we try to fill our emptiness with cars, clothes, and cruises, the deeper the vacuum, since none of those things meets the spiritual craving within. God made us to find true joy through knowing and serving him. We were redeemed from our old self-centeredness to channel God's love and grace to others while bringing glory to the person of Jesus Christ. That is what our assignment is all about.
Special Assignments Will Definitely Stretch You
Joshua encountered many unexpected crises as he led the Israelites into Canaan. On one occasion he had to repudiate a man named Achan, who stole some sacred items and caused God to bring a military defeat as punishment. At another time Joshua had to confront a nearby tribe, the Gibeonites, who had lied in order to get a peace treaty. He may have felt quite unprepared for situations like these—but he was determined to do what God had called him to do.
God's kingdom will not be achieved by halfhearted measures. When we begin to act on our special assignment, it is pretty much guaranteed that we will be pushed beyond our comfort zones. We may be called to do things we don't feel prepared for, even if we are capable. The assignment may call for more faith and courage than we have ever known.
Some of the most fulfilling moments of my life were the Sunday nights in the church's previous building when I had to crawl home after four services almost too exhausted to change out of my suit. Today, with the larger building God has provided, we are accommodating the need with just three services. It still takes a toll on the body, particularly my voice. Yet, a well of joy rises up from getting to serve others in the name of Christ. I fall into bed saying, “Thank you, Lord, for the chance to make a difference in somebody's life today.”
Isn't it interesting that at the very end of Paul's life, he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight,” not “I've had a nice vacation”?
Yes, we can all benefit from a getaway occasionally. But my wife, Carol, and I have noticed that after a few days we are both happy to get back to choir rehearsals and sermon preparation and prayer meetings and helping people find jobs and all the rest that goes with the ministry. It is amazing how boring it can be to sit beside a swimming pool when the work of God beckons.
Francis Asbury, who was sent by John Wesley to guide the Methodist awakening in America, said to his young ministers in training, “Though the devil attacks you in a thousand ways and though there are problems on every side, you are never happier than when you are in the work of the Lord.” This from a man who was never in good health and yet traveled nearly 300,000 miles during his ministry, mostly on horseback. He even stayed on the American side of the Atlantic through the entire Revolutionary War—the only English Methodist leader to do so.
One of the couples in our church who has been willing to stretch for God's purposes is Mark and Georgina Hill. Mark is a licensed architect and a very good one. When he graduated from Cornell University in the mid-1980s, he found his first job to be less than challenging, so he boldly put in his application to work for the very best: I. M. Pei, the world-famous mind who has created everything from the John F. Kennedy Library (Boston) to the Pyramids of the Louvre (Paris) to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland). Mark got the job and absolutely loved it. The freshness, the creativity, the bold strokes were inspiring.
Then Mark took a beginner course in children's ministry at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. This kindled something he had long cared about. “Growing up as a pastor's son, I hated Sunday school; it was the most boring thing around. Now as an adult, it bothered me whenever I'd visit a church somewhere and see kids sleeping in the back row or scribbling on paper. I wanted to make a difference.”
Mark, still single at this point, began finding time to teach the elementary-age children's church. “I loved it! I had such a feeling of being in God's will. And the kids responded so energetically.”
Along the way he got to meet one of the preschool-level teachers: Georgina, a district manager of seventeen women's clothing stores. The little children in her Sunday class graduated each year into Mark's group. The two adults found out they had more common interests, and in time they were married.
“While Mark seemed called especially to the church-wise kid, the one who had grown up in church and heard all the Bible stories,” says Georgina, “I developed a tender heart for the marginalized child, the one who wasn't dressed quite as nice as the others, who felt uneasy in the group. I began making a point of calling that child by name several times during the hour, just to see the smile come up on the face.”
Georgina then came across a book that changed her life: Unlocking the Secret World: A Unique Christian Ministry to Abused, Abandoned, and Neglected Children by Wayne and Diane Tesch.2 She was riveted with the horrors of what some kids endure. She was stunned by a New York Daily News story about a seven-year-old boy who was found wrapped in duct tape like a mummy and lying in a bathtub of cold water because his mother's boyfriend had gotten upset with him. When the police rescued him and unwrapped his little body, they found bruises everywhere. Hardened NYPD officers wept at the sight.
Georgina picked up the phone and called Wayne Tesch simply to thank him for writing the book. He could sense her interest and arranged to meet the couple when he came to New York. Before long, Mark and Georgina went out to California at their own expense for a ten-day training session with Tesch's organization, Royal Family Kids Camp (RFKC). This program provides a safe week of summer camping for abused children, with lavish care and fun as well as appropriate teaching about God's love. The training happened at a campground during an actual camping week.
“The Lord broke our hearts together,” Georgina says. “We would go back to our room and just cry. We knew we had to try to launch one of these camps in the New York area.”
It took several years and several false starts before, in 1999, the first thirty children went to a rented facility in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. It was a huge success. The next year, the Hills were able to invite more kids, based on referrals from the New York City Department of Social Services. Dozens of adult workers from the church joined them in ministering to these precious children. They even thought of throwing a mass birthday party for all the kids—the first party and first birthday present some of them had ever known.
Today Mark and Georgina collect money to take a hundred kids to camp each summer—and they are not satisfied. “Pastor Cymbala, we want to figure out how to acquire a camp of our own,” they say. “Not that we're asking the church to buy it. We just think God could provide it from another source. If we had that, we could run lots of camps!”
They talk intensely about how hard it is for single parents who are at risk of losing their children to state custody. “Social Services says you have to go to a six-week class and do all the homework, or they'll take your kids away,” they tell me. “Well, do they provide babysitting? Of course not. If the mom leaves her kids alone in the apartment while she goes to class, she's in even deeper trouble. She can't win.
“But if we had a camp … we could load up buses full of these families and take them out to Connecticut or Pennsylvania for a whole weekend. We could have licensed teachers cover all the material Social Services wants—even give the official certificate—and in the meantime, we could do fun activities with the kids, build in family mealtimes with good food, and have a gospel presentation. It would be awesome!” Their mental wheels are turning fast as they talk.
This dream has not yet become a reality for Mark and Georgina. But they are doing everything they can think of to bring it to pass. They have started an impressive Christian bookstore, called Timeless Treasures, right around the corner from the church, hoping that its proceeds will someday advance the camp dream for abused children.
All of this has required tons of time. They have a son of their own, Ryan, who is now in middle school. And what about Mark's architectural career? In 2006 he went to the firm's partners and asked for a sabbatical. They responded, “Well, Mark, you've been with our company for eleven years now. You've never let us down. You're doing a great job on the current project. As long as your client doesn't complain, keep going. Do the work whenever you can fit it in. We don't mind if you're not in the office every day.”
That worked for a while. But Mark felt he needed more time to manage the Royal Family Kids Camp work and also help Georgina with the bookstore. After a long process of thought and prayer, he went back to the partners a second time about some kind of change.
“We don't want to lose you,” they said. “Would you be willing to continue as a consultant for us?”
That is Mark's current arrangement. His six-figure salary is gone now. He earns only what he can bill by the hour. And still he is a happy man. He is functioning within his special assignment from the Lord. So is his wife.
I can tell you that this is the opposite of what usually happens. What ministers normally hear these days is, “Well, Pastor, I just got a promotion at work, with more travel, and so I'm going to need to stop teaching Sunday school now. Gotta make a living, you know.” In this case, Mark is saying, “Well, Boss, I really want to spend more time helping kids in distress, so I guess I need to go off the formal payroll.” Talk about a different value system!
A wise marriage counselor wrote some years ago to couples,
To try to keep love just for us … is to kill it slowly…. We are not made just for each other; we are called to a ministry of love to everyone we meet and in all we do. In marriage, too, Jesus' words hold true: in saving our lives we lose them, and in losing our lives in love to others, we drink of life more deeply.3
God's calling for each Christian may end up being broader and more complex than any of us imagine in the beginning. That's all right. When he stretches us to new frontiers, he grants his provision to meet our needs, and he gives us fresh energy to succeed. He is bringing us into a new and spacious land that far outstrips the past.
What Is Your Special Assignment?
If you are not sure what your special assignment from God is, go to him in prayer and ask him. Stay with it and pray until you receive direction. Surrender your will and life to the Lord. He will not only lead you, but also provide the wisdom and resources needed.
Archippus was reminded to complete the work assignment he had obviously already begun. Possibly something or someone had distracted or discouraged him. This often happens when we set ourselves wholeheartedly to do the work of the Lord. But God will continue faithfully to complete his purpose as we keep our eyes on Christ.
As God leads and equips us, we will experience the most exciting and fulfilling life here on earth. We will see prayers answered, people forever changed, and the rise of a new spiritual energy within us. Enemies of every kind will be driven out, and the good land God has promised will be ours. We can start to go after it today, never forgetting the fact that God made us for so much more.