I MisUnderstood the Assignment

There is no such thing as a problem-free space.

• Changing spaces is an exchange of one set of problems and agitations for the next.
• Examples: from single to married; from working for someone else to working for myself.

A Storm Inconvenience

• Temporary season of inconvenience.
• Temptation is to act impulsively when the focus should be on outlasting the storm.

22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? (Luke 8:22-25, KJV)

A Thorn Inconvenience

• An instrument of agitation.
• The temptation is to focus on the irritation when the focus should be on the assignment.

7 Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NIV)

A Cross Inconvenience

• The inconvenience I choose to endure when I value the calling more than my comfort.
• There is a choice for whether or not I take up the cross that comes with any project or assignment,

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. (Matthew 16:24-27, NIV)

God already knows everything about me.

• My strengths, my abilities, my weaknesses, my personality, my deficits, my dysfunctions.
• God doesn’t deny my experience or refute my expressed limitations, He insists that I don’t continue to speak limitations over myself once I bring them to Him.
• I talk to myself more than anyone else gets to talk to me.
• I can choose this instead: I am healed. I am blessed. I am strong. I am whole. I am favored. I am prospering. I am the head, not the tail. I am above, not below. I am the lender, not the borrower. I am more than a conqueror. If God goes before me, He’s more than what’s in front or behind me.

Sometimes I’m just not listening.

• Think of the hero’s journey structure: the call to adventure; refusal of the call; meeting the mentor; crossing the threshold; tests, allies, and enemies; the approach; the ordeal; the reward; the road back; the resurrection; the return; the freedom to live. (Grammarly)
• If I can dream it, then I can have it, then I can do it - so long as I keep my focus on God, I can be confident in facing whatever unique obstacles and opportunities arise, knowing that I will meet the right people and the right version of myself along the way.

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. (Mark 16:1-4, NIV)

There’s a reason I don’t have it.

• God is preparing the way during the journey for me to be able to take hold of the blessing and to be able to sustain it because I’m not able to as the present version of my self (or else I would already have it or know how to get it).
• He prepares my faith, my character, my strength, my endurance, my habits, my disciplines, my curiosities, my hobbies, my appetites, my patience…; He prepares me to be able to acknowledge Him for it and through it.
• Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. (Jeremiah 1:18, NIV)

I can be honest.

• My repressed and unexpressed emotions don’t stay that way for long; I can either express and articulate them now, or I can watch them overcome and show up in unhealthy and unhelpful ways later.
• I’m only shorting myself a real relationship with God and my ability to see His work by hiding or editing or managing my self, my perception, my self-image, my anything with God; God already knows it all anyway!

Feeling used is normal.

• Jesus let Judas’s betrayal serve its purpose and continued on.
• Feeling used, feeling betrayed, feeling abandoned or rejected - it doesn’t feel good, but if it’s going to happen, I can learn from it and know that it doesn’t need to keep me from moving forward.

When I’m Obedient, God Becomes Responsible for Me

• Sometimes it feels like obeying Him puts me in jeopardy, but self-protection is an illusion.
• When I feel like I’m straining and giving it my all, I can take a pause to acknowledge that God ultimately does the heavy lifting.

The Pain I Have is Less Than the Pain I Missed

• Pain will be present in any circumstance and in any situation; the difference is that the pain I face with God are growing pains and if I’m going through it it’s because I’ve already come out of it.

My Options Are An Illusion

• God ultimately grants the fruit of my labor.
• Whatever God assigns to me is what’s ultimately best for Me.

When I release my assumptions of what it’s supposed to be like, God shows me what it can be like<3

Prayer from Pastor Dr. Dharius Daniels:

Father, I thank you right now for every single person. I thank you now for those that are wresting with frustration. And in the privacy of our hearts we say to you what Jeremiah said. We say what we feel. We feel frustrated, we feel disappointed, we feel angry, we feel deceived, we feel discouraged - we give it to you. Because if we will talk to you about it, you can do something about it. Father, break the yoke of discontentment. For your word says godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6, NIV). Break the yoke of discontentment and help us accurately understand the assignment. I pray this over your life. In Jesus’ name. [Amen.]