Assignments from God are completed FROM identity, not FOR identity. Once you know that you are already a child in his kingdom (by grace through faith), he equips you as an ambassador to complete assignments.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
An assignment from God has to do with those good works you were created unto. An assignment has to do with those works God has prepared for you to do. An assignment is something God wants you to do as an ambassador of his kingdom. God may have multiple assignments for you throughout your life, some are fulfilled in a day, some are walked out over a lifetime.
God has things he wants you to do, don’t you want to do them?
It’s important to keep in mind that you do not derive your identity by completing these assignments. He has given you the power to be his child by grace through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, he adopted you and that’s it, you’re his child.
Nothing you do for God will ever determine whether or not you’re saved, whether or not God loves you, whether or not your salvation is secure - the completion of assignments are to be completed BECAUSE you are an accepted, righteous and holy child of God.
What Are Dreams?
Dreams: a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal
- Aspiration: a hope or ambition of achieving something
- Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something,
typically requiring determination and hard work
Dreams are those things you want to accomplish in life that may not have much to do with ministry. Dreams are perfectly fine to have. Your dreams and your assignments may coincide. Your dreams may finance your assignments. BUT, living your dreams will not bring the same kind of spiritual fulfillment that completing assignments will.
You may have a dream to travel the world, build a successful business, be a world class artist or become a star athlete - all of those are fine, but those dreams are most likely not the kinds of assignments God has for you as an ambassador in his kingdom.
You might use your influence as a professional athlete or take advantage of opportunities that traveling may create, and yes there may be assignments within each of those dreams, but the attainment of those dreams alone is not the same as completing God-ordained assignments.
Watch a clip from an interview with Tom Brady from 2005, he now has 6 Super Bowl wins.
This is not a judgment against Tom, it’s just an illustration, he achieved his dreams and it didn’t bring fulfillment, he was looking for more.
Some of you think that achieving your dreams will do it for you, it won’t. Dreams are fun, they bring a lot of excitement, but there’s more.
The Sweet Spot
Yes, of course, some of you have dreams that are also divine assignments, I have those too. That’s the sweet spot, when your income, your dreams, and your assignment are the same thing, but that’s not the case for everyone.
I hope you get to live your dreams, I hope your dreams pay you, but if they don’t, I pray you still fulfill the assignments God has for you. In doing so you’ll have more fulfillment and contentment than the achievement of any dream could bring.
Dreams are something you want to accomplish or experience. Dreams typically require hard work to be realized.
The Peter Pan Syndrome
This is the part where I may upset or offend people, watch this incredibly insightful explanation of Peter Pan.
Peter Pan is more than a children's tale, it's a warning. The warning is you better grow up and make mature decisions. Peter doesn't want to grow up so he stays in Neverland where he's magical. If he joins the real world he'll no longer be magical.
Peter's biggest enemy is a mean man who has been bitten by the crocodile of time, Captain Hook. Peter makes fun of the man who has been affected by time, he taunts him while he lives in his fantasy land.
Peter also never gets to have a real relationship with a woman, he has to settle for Tinkerbell, who can't talk. An immature boy can't speak with a real woman anyway. Peter is also king of the Lost Boys, another group of boys who are hiding from the real world. They just never grow up.
Peter seems fun and unrestricted but he never makes the sacrifice of maturity. He never lays down his fanciful dreams of childhood and discovers the wonder of adulthood. He's grown but he still sees the world through the mentality of a child.
Too many men are living in Neverland. They end up divorced, they never develop a career, they don't put in the sacrifices to come out the other side into a world where you get to actually live and accomplish dreams. Meaningful dreams, not just fanciful dreams.
The moral to the story is growing up, not just grow up but take on the responsibility of maturity. Maturity is able to enjoy life in all its wonder much more completely than the immature dreamer who never makes it out of childhood.
Conclusion
I love Jordan Peterson, I appreciate his insights and direct nature of communication. I found this illustration to be very appropriate regarding the subject of dreams and fulfilling assignments from God.
Life with Jesus isn’t like it is in Neverland. Life with Jesus requires paying the price of dying to yourself and picking up your cross. The secret is, there is incredible fulfillment form picking up that cross and coming out on the other side. The other side of maturity is fulfillment.
I hope this is helpful to you. Some of you may be reading this and feel a sense of pressure. I don’t want to offend you but it may be time to just get a job and learn to be productive at something. Develop the character of consistency and let go of the fantasy that life is easy where all your dreams come true.
I know that’s a bit harsh to say but I really feel at this time, there are people who need to understand who they are in Christ, get to work, and seize opportunities to serve God and fulfill those assignments as they come.
