“Assignment”

Do you ever think back on your school days and remember certain teachers more than others? Chances are some are remembered for how they inspired or helped you. Others may be sorely remembered for being strict or intimidating or just too serious. Some may be known and remembered for being both tough and motivating. Those are the ones that you might have disliked at first but grew to appreciate despite their demanding assignments. As you walk the halls of your schooldays memories you probably can even picture where their room was located.

Remember times just before the bell rang at the end of some classes when you would already have all your books and gear ready to snatch and run with, because you just couldn’t wait to get out the door. But then the teacher would begin outlining your “Assignment” for the next time and you’d have to fumble for pen and notebook and scramble to jot down the information. You probably had already missed some of it and of course some of the teacher’s spoken details might get swallowed up in the final blaring bell or buzzer. So you might have never actually written much of anything down and even if you did, you weren’t sure if you got it all down.

At that point you had some choices. You could ask the teacher for clarification and get the accurate instructions. You could ask a classmate and get their version, be it right or wrong. Or you could take your chances and presume you had enough to go with. By now you could be late to your next class and your head is filled with fresh distractions. So regardless of the method you chose to be familiar with the “Assignment”, thoughts of it were soon abandoned for other things.

Later when it was time to get to work on the “Assignment” your earlier choice takes on a greater significance or consequence. You could have clarity from attentively hearing or consulting your teacher and that allows you to move forward with confidence. You might have some help from a peer whose influence helps you confront the task, but with some uncertainty and just a hope for the best. Or it could be that the meager points you remember on your own might not only diminish your preparedness but might also make for a halfhearted approach. Worse scenario is that disruptions within the day even made you forget the “Assignment” totally.

We probably all recognize that the best of all ways to get precise instructions how to do something is to go to the source, the creator of the task.

In the same way that we probably resisted that approach with teachers, how often do we overlook this in the “Assignments” of our everyday lives, given by our Creator?

How often do we fail to hear the voice of the Master, and settle for the voice of others, who in fact may not only have a different perception of the “Assignment” but may actually have a totally different assignment all together?

How often are we in such a hurry that we miss out on the most important preparation details for what lies ahead of us and for us?

I know I am guilty of getting easily distracted and forgetting things. And sadly, this happens often when I am sitting with my Master Teacher. I often rush out the door to my next ‘whatever’ before making sure I have given Him time to prepare me for my next “Assignment”.

Sometimes I hear, read or write only part of the plan and then wonder why I am floundering to know what to do.

On occasion I listen to ones who are not the best source tell me what to do and how to do it, somehow thinking that their direction is better than God’s personal guidance to me.

God generally doesn’t demand that we complete an urgent mission daily. But I do think He has daily assignments for us that He would like to communicate to us. He desires that we be patient and attentive to listen and willing and ready to complete.

I am grateful that on the days that I don’t stay long enough in His quiet presence to gather all the details, that He can still use me, guide me, equip me, and find me faithful, simply because He walks right beside me through the halls of the school of life. Best scenario though is that I ask and listen for His “Assignment” directions first.

In Leviticus 26: 3 God states, “If you follow My decrees and are careful to obey my commands…”

Then God says in Leviticus 26:12, ^“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” and again in II Corinthians 6:16 “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Gratefully HIS,

Jan