A couple of months ago I wrote about embracing your call and understanding that an assignment from God, be it staying at home to raise your children or working on a job that is not quite your definition of a ‘dream job’, is the call that he has for you. Wherever God has placed you is where he wants you to be and that is your calling.
But where do we go and what do we do when an assignment ends?
It can be really disconcerting when your routine is interrupted by a change in affairs. It could be that you have been made redundant at work or you have recently graduated and are looking to get into work. Or perhaps your children are grown and have moved out. No matter what your stage in life is, change can be uncomfortable and requires you to adjust your position. If you have been focused on a particular assignment for a long time it can be a lot more shocking and strange to suddenly be doing something else.
God moves us from one assignment to the next in order to keep us from becoming stale. Sometimes it is because we have outgrown our previous position. Embedded in every assignment are learning curves and challenges that are designed to stretch us. We don’t always feel the stretching. We don’t always feel growth pains, but it doesn’t always mean that we are not growing.
There are a host of reasons why God would want to move us to the next assignment. Whatever the reason, just know that it is to bless and increase you and not to subtract from you.
The commandment of God to humanity at the very beginning was for us to “be fruitful and multiply”, to “subdue the earth” and to “have dominion”. That commandment is still true today. It is not the purpose of God for our lives to be stuck in one spot. He desires that we spread and become masters over things. With this in mind we can start to understand what we should be doing when one assignment ends.
1. Give Thanks
Your attitude should be one of thanks giving. 1 Thessalonians 5:16, tells us to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Just over a week ago I was laid off a job that I had received a few months prior by what I could have only explain to be the intervention and grace of God. I which things had been different, but In my hearts of hearts I am thankful to God for the opportunity to learn, grow and be a blessing. I rejoice because I know where my source really is.
I don’t see it as a cut in my financial supply I see it as a step to doing something new, because God is my provider. Don’t be down cast.
2. Get Closer
The second part of that scripture says, ” pray without ceasing”. We should be praying to God all day, all the time. We can do this by praying in our hearts and rehearsing scriptures as we go through our day. (I will talk more on this in a separate post.) For now though I think that we can all agree that our lives get so busy with work and routine that we don’t put so much emphasis on praying as we should be. When our routines are interrupted we look for new things we can do to keep us busy again. This is the perfect time to get back in touch with God. You have all this free time now to pray more and study the word more. Go on hour long prayer walks or worship walks. Spend time with God. In the process, you will get clearer understanding of his purpose for your life and insight into your next assignment.
It’s so powerful how God created a part of the earth each day in Genesis 1 and then paused after each day to look at what he had done and then said that it was good. God modelled the nature of putting our work and aims under review before moving on to the next thing. It’s the principle of watching and praying. If you don’t keep your eyes and mind open you will miss the instructions God has for you. I have find that God has spoken to me more about what he wants me to do and the direction to take when I was preparing myself by putting myself through training, reflecting and listening.
I hope you find your feet landing on the path God has set before you. And may you find grace and peace in every season you find yourself in.
3. Prepare
‘Prayer is the master Key! One key for every door.’ This is the truth that we have been feed since first coming to the faith. What we fail to do alongside praying is prepare for what we have prayed for. Have you taken time out to recubirate, rest and skill up for the next assignment. Between each assignment there is a moment, an opportunity for you to clean and sharpen your tools. This moment can be used to reflect on the past. What would you change or do better? Sometimes God puts us on intentional pauses because we haven’t taken out time to give ourselves a break.
We Grow in Faith 