Chapter 8 - Assignment - Action Orders
The Assignment - Readiness
A man, in position with God, having experienced the promise of God . . .
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is humbly surrendered in the presence of God
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seeks the Lord intently concerning each next step
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willingly confesses and repents of any sin the Spirit brings to light
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remains obediently tuned to the Spirit’s direction
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will interpret accurately what he hears from the Spirit
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will respond wisely in word and action, accurately representing the person and culture of Jesus.
That man is proven trustworthy and ready to receive his orders for action from God.
In military terms, an assignment is a mission directive issued by a commanding officer, conveying the commander’s intent, defining the objective to be accomplished, the area of operations, and any rules of engagement. The subordinate is charged with executing the mission in accordance with the order, exercising disciplined initiative within the limits of that intent, and remaining accountable for outcomes.
A man will have many assignments in his life. Some will run concurrently, some will be lifelong, and each will shape and define him. One or two will rise to special significance. We will unpack that a bit more in the chapter on governance. Here, we look at the characteristics of a God-assignment by examining one of the great assignments in history, God-to-Moses: "Go get my people!"
The Assignment - Characteristics
A Spirit-directed assignment to a man will have distinct characteristics.
1. The assignment will apply skills gained in prior experiences.
An assignment from God does not occur in a vacuum. There is always a rich context that, when looked back upon, reveals the tracks of His work shaping, guiding, preparing, and adjusting, marking a path forward and leading His intended representative to His purposed end.
Moses was raised from infancy by the royal princess of Egypt. He emerged into adulthood with the resources, education, and training of a prince. He would have been fluent in the language of the court and in diplomacy, able to read and write, skilled in mathematics and accounting. He would have been trained in the use of weaponry and military tactics, as well as in astronomy and calendrics. He absorbed that culture and its benefits for the first forty years of his life.
His second forty years were spent in the southern Sinai Peninsula, overseeing his father-in-law's sheep ranch. He would have ranged widely to find grazing for the animals, spending long periods in the wilderness with only a small troop of shepherds living off the land. He came to know the territory over which he would later lead the people of Israel.
God caused Moses to be perfectly trained for the assignment that lay ahead.
2. The assignment is a clearly stated, time-limited tactical engagement. "Time" is defined by God. It could be a lifetime, years, or minutes. It has identifiable start and end points.
Moses received a specific tactical assignment from God. It is the story told in the Biblical record of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He was to collect the Jewish workforce in Egypt and lead them to a new home in what is now modern Israel. The assignment started on a given day on the side of a mountain in Sinai and ended on the east bank of the Jordan River approximately 43 years later.
An assignment from God is dynamic. A man's experience and focus will necessarily be on the performance process. He will know when it started, but he will not know when it ends until God reveals it. Moses may have reasonably calculated a three-year frame to accomplish the work. But changing conditions along the way caused an extension. The endpoint became clear many years later.
Another example -- I accepted the assignment as President of the University of Mobile on February 13, 1998. I understood the organization's condition and the expectations of my role. I accepted the job assuming it would require about five years of work. As the first segment neared completion, a new set of conditions became clear, and the role extended. Looking back on the experience, I can identify six distinct periods in the institution's life, each of which required a slightly different approach to leadership.
Sixteen years later, I was aware that yet another set of conditions was emerging. I was also aware that I was not to lead it. God was bringing the end into focus. The Board of Trustees and I enacted a pre-planned exit plan designed to ensure the ongoing welfare of the institution with a specific end on May 31, 2016. An eighteen-year presidency ended smoothly and a new presidency began.
3. The assignment is originated, supported, and conducted by God. It is never self-appointed or self-conducted.
Moses saw an unusual speck of light on the side of a distant mountain, a sort of signal fire. He was an experienced sheep rancher—40 years on the job. He knew that part of the grazing territory well. That light did not belong there, an anomaly. Moses was intrigued.
He was a 80 year-old man with a resume he tried hard to forget. Moses did not think much about his early days in Egypt, except to wonder whether his brother and sister were still alive.
His time as an unlikely prince of Egypt had ended abruptly, but he had learned a great deal about military and governmental leadership during those years.
All that was a long time ago, and those lessons counted for little in his life now. Working his father-in-law's remote free-range sheep ranch provided a stable situation for the family -- and kept him a long way from the aging arrest warrants.
He approached what seemed to be a bright flame ignited in a bush. It was clearly hot, but the bush was not being consumed. Then the anomaly went extreme, and a voice came from the bush.
"Moses! Don't come closer. Take off your shoes, this is holy ground. I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
"I have come down to rescue the people and see them to a homeland of their own. I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead them out of Egypt."
God just assigned a man who had, unknowingly, been prepared over time with knowledge of Egypt's inner workings, military doctrine, principles of leadership, knowledge of a wide expanse of desert, and grit! -- just the things a man would need to lead a large group of unruly people on foot overland without provisions. It came with a God-promise to which Moses would hold tenaciously, "I will be with you."
The assignment that would define a man's life was originated, supported, and conducted by God. No way Moses could do this on his own. It will be the same with you. He will also give you a promise.
4. The assignment is guided by and consistent with the strategies and tenets of God presented in Scripture.
God introduced himself to Moses in a way that suggests Moses needed to be reminded of his spiritual heritage, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
It had been a long time since Hebrew school with other children in Egypt, when he had listened to his mother tell the old stories about Abraham. Moses may have recalled those stories when he realized that he was in the presence of the God of Ages, who created it all. This was the God who had assigned Abraham to move west to a new home. Now, Moses, hundreds of years later, was being assigned to bring the people back to that same home. Moses was being placed into a long story of God's providence and care for His chosen people.
Much later in that same long story, another man would be assigned a role. His name was Simon, a commercial fisherman from Galilee, a large freshwater lake in northern Israel. Simon's brother and partner in the fishing business was insistent, "This is the guy! The Messiah! You have got to come meet him!"
When Simon approached, Jesus turned and looked at him steadily, "You are Simon, John's son -- but you will be called Peter, the Rock. Come, follow me." With that, the man known through the past 2,000 years as Apostle Peter, was folded into the long story of God's redemptive purpose.
God's assignment to a man now is no less part of that long redemptive story.
5. The assignment is never limited to a particular method, place, environment, organization, profession, or type of person.
The assumption that God assigns His work only to professional ministers does not fit the facts . . .
Moses was an 80-year-old desert fugitive.
David was an 18-year-old musician.
Gideon was a 40-year-old farmer.
Daniel was a 25-year-old captive in exile.
Nehemiah was a 50-year-old servant to the king.
Peter was a 30-year-old fisherman.
Matthew was a 30-year-old tax collector.
Luke was a 45-year-old doctor.
Saul was a 40-year-old religious scholar.
Barnabas was a 45-year-old businessman.
Talk about a diverse group! Yet, each man was assigned by God to a specific role in the expansion of God's kingdom. The thing each man had in common with the others is his commitment to what Jesus identified as the greatest commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." Matthew 22:37
No pedigree. No diploma. No title. Just a heart sold out to God on His terms.
Flash forward. A heart for God is still the only qualification.
6. The assignment will seem impossible by human standards and experience and will require a man's unqualified reliance upon God by faith.
Let's do the rough math for the initial assignment given to Moses.
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According to the Biblical record in Exodus 12:37, 600,000 men, plus women and children, left Egypt. That yields an estimated total of over 1.5 million people.
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The distance to be traveled on foot from the border of Egypt by way of Mt. Sinai to the southern border of modern Israel is approximately 360 miles. As a point of reference, that would be the walking distance from Atlanta to Washington, DC.
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A conservative pace of ancient travel for a large group, including families, animals, and supplies, is approximately 10 miles a day.
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The people would be provisioned (food, water, clothing) with what they could carry or secure from the land through which they passed.
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There was no trained protective force or logistical system apart from family and clan units.
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The travel time from Egypt to Sinai was approximately 7 weeks.
All that was prior to the failed attempt to enter the new land and the subsequent 40-year delay, all in the Sinai wilderness.
The word "impossible" does not even begin to describe the challenge that Moses faced. But, he did, by faith, in complete reliance upon God's promise.
God's assignment to you is not likely to be that dramatic, but it will certainly be beyond your ability to achieve it in your own power and ability. The key to the effective performance of a God-assignment is a man in position relying upon God.
7. The assignment requires constant communication with God through the assigned term as essential to the accomplishment of the assignment.
My study of Moses leads me to conclude that, from his first step away from the burning bush and that remarkable initial encounter with God, there was not a day when he was not aware of his dependence on God and his critical need for God's closeness and direction. Open communication with his Commander was essential to every detail of the assignment. It is also clear that God facilitated that communication.
"Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses. When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp . . ." Exodus 33:8-11
Moses spent dedicated time in God's presence and was in constant communication with Him. So will you.
8. The assignment will refine the assigned individual's understanding of the ways of God.
The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell address to Israel on the plains of Moab, just before the people entered the Promised Land. Its name means “second law,” not because the law is new, but because it is re-stated, explained, and applied to a new generation that did not experience Sinai firsthand.
The old leader spoke with a firmness and clarity seasoned by years of obedience to God and countless experiences of God's protection and provision as he delivered final instructions and warnings to the people. He knew God's holiness and strength. He also knew God's intolerance of disobedience. He remembered the deep impressions on his spirit as God disciplined him and restored him over the years.
Moses' experience with his Lord and Commander through the trials of one impossible situation after another over 40 plus years had removed any question or shadow of doubt regarding God's faithfulness to the original promise, "I will be with you."
Faced with the impossible aspects of God's assignment, a man at the end of his rope will question God's ability . . . for a while. But the time will come when the "end of the rope" is anticipated, for that is where he will have learned Jesus is most real, His Spirit most present, most loving, and always able. Hope will move to trust, and trust will move to confidence.
9. The assignment will expand the culture and influence of Jesus in accordance with His purpose in the place where the assignment is carried out.
Every man leaves a spreading wake of influence. If he discovers the position and promise of God, he is likely to be remembered by a third or fourth generation of admiring sons and daughters. If he does not, perhaps his sons or daughters will find their way to this book or one like it to discover how their wake may be shaped for a better outcome.
As far as Moses's influence is concerned, I could tell you more Bible stories, or I can simply refer you to a modern map of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. His was a long wake.
The Hardest Part
A man in position with God will not shy from the "impossible" nature of an assignment. That man will expect it to be uphill and against the wind. Some may even relish the difficulty and dream about the fight -- a zeal for God's kingdom to be expanded in the world. He is the thoroughbred in the starting gate, pressing for the gate to open.
The hardest part is humility in the wait. Do you remember the lesson about the subtle "should" of pride? My friend acted as he believed he "should" to achieve an outcome he thought "should" happen. His intentions were good, but he was acting on his own will and timing, trying to persuade God of his plan.
A man's zeal for God must be brought under the absolute authority of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, that zeal, no matter how spiritually coated it may be, becomes a point of temptation for a man to place himself in charge. It is, in effect, a mutiny for control, a flare of pure pride that pulls a man out of position with God and, incredibly, is rationalized by that man as absolutely right.
You must wait for God's orders.
American Tier One special forces units, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Marine Special Ops Command Units are trained to an exceptionally sharp edge. They are the elite of the elite, with capabilities, readiness, training, commitment to purpose, and responsiveness that take mission effectiveness into legendary territory.
If I have done my job well, you now know that I consider a man properly positioned with God to be the spiritual equivalent of these special forces operators.
These units share another essential rule: unwavering discipline to command authority. The unit is always ready for instant response and in active communication with its commander. But it will not act without a direct order. Neither should you.
Humility in the wait -- Go to work. Do your job. Meet your responsibilities. Stay in the spiritual position you now know about. Trust God to apply what He has built in you for His purpose. In other words, seek God, not the assignment. When you are in position, your spiritual antenna is perfectly tuned. The Spirit of God will cause you to know His assignment, each step you are to take, and when to move.
Ok...now click over to Chapter 9...
Mark Foley, Ph.D.
effectivesolutions.today