God has called everyone who is born again to fulfill an assignment for His Kingdom. Just like the physical body is made of different parts, the body of Christ is also made of different parts and if a part does not play its role, the whole body suffers. (Rom 12:4-8)
Discover your assignment
First and foremost, note that God will only reveal your assignment when you are passionate about discovering it. Jer 29:13 says ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart’. God doesn’t waste his resources. He will only communicate what you want to know to you. If you are not interested in your assignment, you would not have further clarity on it. You must seek God with all your heart and desire your assignment fervently. Don’t despise your assignment or criticize other people’s assignment.
Ponder over this quote by Theodore Roosevelt “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually
strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
Your assignment is different from that of others
Your assignment is different from other Christians because you are unique. You were designed especially for your own assignment; don’t ever compare yourself with another person. When you consider your strength, other Christians may appear weak but it is foolish to consider them so (A person who despises a neighbor has no sense, but a person who has understanding keeps quiet… Prov 11:10) because God has put many gifts and virtues in the lives of other Christians that you can never have.
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. (1 Cor 12: 17&18)
Different kinds of disciples of Jesus have different peculiar roles they are designed and commissioned to play by God. Don’t ever despise another person because you think that your role is superior. The 12 male disciples were notable in preaching of the gospel, casting out of demons and other spiritual assignments yet they ran away when Jesus was crucified by the Jews.
They did not bother to know where he was buried, whereas, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses followed the dead body to the end, and saw exactly where he was laid in the rock carved by Joseph. These women who cared for him when he was alive could have seemed to have been playing menial roles, but at his death, they demonstrated great strength. This was super dedication. This was true love; the only type of love that will go into the dark shades of adversity, and flourish there.
Many women in our days are also resilient, faithful and committed disciples like those women while many men appear not to be committed to God’s kingdom. If you are a man reading this, please decide to discover your life assignment and do all it requires to fulfill it. Don’t delay what you should do for Christ; the opportunity may elude you.
Joseph of Arimathea was an honourable rich man, a man of impeccable character, integrity and reputation in the society and a disciple of Jesus Christ. He had risen to a high rank in the council of the Sanhedrin, he could not be rubbished by the Jews. It was a risk for anyone to have asked Pilate for the body of Jesus but the level of risk
for Joseph being a member of the Sanhedrin was less compared to other men. He had the power of influence over Pilate and he demanded for the body of Jesus and gave him a befitting burial.
The Holy Spirit must have prompted Joseph the day Jesus was crucified to realize that it was his opportunity to declare for Jesus. Joseph had been a secret disciple all the while because of fear of the Jews, but surprisingly,
he became bold at the death of the Jesus. On the other hand, the 12 disciples who were bold to follow him during his lifetime were too weak to be associated with him at his death. Even if the disciples didn’t flee that day, they didn’t have any influence with Pilate to have asked him for the body.
The kingdom of God needs such men of high ranking; everybody cannot be in the lowly state. If you perceive that God had chosen you to be of high ranking, don’t resist it for the sake of menial tasks. Don’t refuse to move to a level that you have the potential to attain. Allow God to distinguish you in the society to the level that you have influence with the high and the mighty. Be willing to pay the price to rise to the highest level of your profession. Your assignment may seem short like just collecting the body and burying but it will be recorded eternally because probably only you could have played such a role by virtue of your position, while several other people
can play the role you are trying to play. Can you imagine if Jesus had been buried with the criminals in the common graveyard? It would not have been befitting for our Saviour.
Different disciples have different roles to play for Jesus. Avoid criticizing other Christians, nobody is perfect. Just play your own role and celebrate the strength in others. While Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses and the wife of Cleaopas, an honourable man in town were notable in ministering to Jesus’s needs with their substance and embalming His body at death; Joseph the Arimathea was notable in in giving Jesus a befitting burial (John 19:38), the male disciples eventually became the leaders of the church. What are you doing for the body of Christ now?
Step out to fulfil your assignment, the stone will be rolled away On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, (Luke 24:1&2) The women went to the grave to perform their assignment of anointing his body not bothered about how the stone would be rolled away. If they had been wondering and considering how the stone will be rolled away, they wouldn’t have gone ahead towards fulfilling their own part. Don’t bother about the obstacle involved in fulfilling your assignment, just go ahead with planning, preparing and doing what you can; God will roll the stone away. Sometimes when you are still praying and wondering how the stone would be rolled away, God himself had already sorted it out. What is the Holy Spirit prompting you to do? Start doing it now and be faithful to it no matter how unpopular it is.