I want to share with us in this piece something that has been titled The Intricacies of Your Mission. We should not forget that we are still in the month of October, and the month of October is our mission month at the Centre for New Dimension Leadership. Under that title, we want to understand our deep work and sacrifices as a missionary. Before we proceed, let me just give a background information into what the message so that at no point or the other during the cause of the message, we are lost.

 

Most of the time, quite a number of us initially don’t seem to understand the intricacies of our mission or life’s assignment. But the truth is, we aren’t the only ones in these shoes. People of old too at some point or the other in their walk with God didn’t seem to grasp all there is to their life’s mission at first. For example, the first question Mary asked angel Gabriel after the message to her about her mission in Luke 1:34 was: “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Mary at the time, just like many of us today as well, seem not to fully grasp how that mission was going to come about.

 

Another Example is Moses. Exodus 3:11-14 shows us how Moses went back and forth with God until he got the needed assurance from God before embarking on his mission. The Bible says:

 

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” ¹³ Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

 

In other words, when you are confronted with an assignment or a mission from God and you don’t understand what it entails or the intricacies yet, it is not a problem. Intricacies in the context of this message talks about the following: the details of your mission, the difficulties, the ups and downs, the challenges, et cetera.

 

So, the point I am trying to make is this: Your life’s mission sometimes is not fulfilled on bed of roses or with golden spoon in your hand. Fulfilling your life’s mission sometimes come with difficulties and challenges and all manner of tribulations. Apostle Paul wrote in Acts 14:21-22, he said: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” So, the assumption that everything about your life’s mission must go smoothly and itch-free is not the complete truth. So many times, tribulations are part of the script of your life’s mission and I don’t want us to forget that.

 

Let us open our Bibles to Psalms 105:17-20 (TPT). The Bible says: “But he had already sent a man ahead of his people to Egypt; it was Joseph, who was sold as a slave.” It has already been established that your life’s mission does not originate from you, but from God. God is the assignor of our life’s mission, and we are the assignee. In Exodus 9:1, the Bible says: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” Here we see how God gave the mission to Moses to speak on behalf of the children of Israel.

 

Sometimes, the mission can be to speak for a people or cry against them. In the case of Moses, his assignment was to speak for the children of Israel. In the case of Jonah, his assignment was to cry against Nineveh. Jonah 1:2 says: “Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and cry out against it…”

 

If God says you should cry against a city or a people and you refused to do so, if those people perish in their wickedness, God says he would require their blood from you. Ezekiel 3:18-19 shows us. It says: “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” So, it is important that we understand these intricacies in our life’s missions.

 

Any mission that does not originate from God that you embark upon would end up in a mess, just like in the case of Moses. The only way to avoid this mess and to fully enjoy the backing of God on our life’s mission is when the mission originates from Him. In Acts 7:25, Moses tried to commission himself into the work and the whole thing became messed up. “For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.”

 

Verse 18 says: “His feet were bruised by strong shackles and his soul was held by iron.”   There is this assumption that many of us have that when God is sending anyone on a mission, such a man or woman just strolls into his or her mission majestically, something that looks somewhat like a grand entry kind of. We often think this way: If God is the one sending me, then I shouldn’t encounter any challenge or difficulties while in the mission field. While this may be true to some certain degree, it is not always the case. The man who was the subject of the text above was JOSEPH, and we saw how he began his life’s mission.

 

Just as we were made to understand last week when we were examining prophet Jonah, the events that occurred while he was running away from the presence of God were actually meant to take him back into the mission of his life. Certain unpalatable events may occur in your life in order to bring you back into God’s agenda for your life.

 

Now, when this happen, that does not mean that God is evil or a wicked being, No! But because He alone knows His plans and purpose of your life, He can orchestrate events to bring you back into His counsel for your own life. So, when you are going through certain unpalatable experiences, your disposition towards it should be to seek the face of God and understand His will for your life at such times. It should never be a time to murmur and complain, No! It should be that time where you give God thanks and seeking to understanding His will for your life. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

 

¹⁹ God’s promise to Joseph purged his character
until it was time for his dreams to come true.
²⁰ Eventually, the king of Egypt sent for him, setting him free at last.

 

Who was Joseph?

Joseph was a man sent by God ahead of his people to preserve them in a difficult situation, even though it did not look like it in the beginning. In Genesis 45:1-5, the Bible says:

 

“Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So, no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. ³ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. ⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So, they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

 

In order to get to this point of preserving lives, Joseph’s journey was what we could describe as rough and rumble. It was like the philosophical saying of one of Nigeria’s foremost philosopher, Tai Solarin which says “May your road be rough.” Joseph’s road into fulfilling his life’s mission was so rough! First, Joseph was hated and sold into slavery by his other brothers. Genesis 37:3-4:“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

 

The starting point of Joseph’s ordeal into fulfilling his life’s mission was that he was hated by his own brothers. And why did hate him? The hatred was to push him into his mission. There are times in your life that certain things or occurrences will occur that are meant to push you from your complacent state into your mission. Left to us, when we look at what God wants us to do or the assignment, He has given to us, they don’t look like it. So, situations and circumstances will arise to push you into that mission. When Jonah’s ship was about to capsize, to us, it may look like God was being wicked.

 

But that ship and the raging storm must happen so that Jonah could go fulfill his mission. So, if certain things are happening in your life, it is not the time to complain o grumble. It is the time to sit down and seek the face of God. Maybe there is something or a place that God wants you to go, and you are refusing, He may at times use situation and circumstances to push you there. So, Joseph was hated, although to us, it is was a negative thing, but in the eyes of God, it was something that must happen so that Joseph could fulfill his mission.

 

Secondly, Joseph found his way into Potiphar’s house and became the head servant boy of all that his master, Potiphar, had. Now, all these events were towards fulfilling his life’s mission and not coincidence at all. Not long from there, Potiphar’s wife began to device schemes in order to get Joseph to lay with her. In Genesis 39:4-7, the Bible gave us this account how it happened.

 

“So, Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”

 

Thirdly, Joseph was thrown into prison because he refused the advancement of Potiphar’s wife. At this point, you and I would have simply told God: Please take your mission back, I am no longer interested. These sufferings and tribulations are just too much for me to bear. But Joseph didn’t do that. He still became favored even while he was in the prison. Genesis 39:19-23 shows us!

 

“So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.”

 

Fourthly, because of Joseph’s decorum while in prison and his ability to interpret dreams, Pharaoh promoted Joseph into becoming the Prime Minister of Egypt. It was at this point that the Scripture we read earlier in Genesis 45:1-5 and Psalms 105:17-20 became clearer. Joseph was on a mission to save lives of the people of Egypt because of a famine that was going to befall the world at the time, and most importantly, save the lives of his own people as well. Most times when God sends you on a mission, it is so that lives and destinies of a people could be preserved. In order to get to the point of fulfilling this mission, the road for you may be rough and rumble as well, just as we saw in the story of Joseph. This experience however, does not negate the fact that God has sent you on that mission.

 

I believe you have learnt something!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!