Your Haters Are Promoting You: 9 Facts About Your Assignment

Sermon outline

Your life is not a mistake: you are a child of God on assignment to solve problems for people, and the people, places, passions, preparation and even enemies in your life all serve that assignment.

1. 1. Your assignment is always to a person or a people

   God has placed you with a specific assignment in your workplace, family and church. Some phases are temporary frustrations on life's journey, and the people who frustrate you are tweaking your character, so don't get rid of them prematurely. When he had nothing, nobody hated him; once God put substance in his hands and he began to drive, dress and live better, the haters appeared. Don't resign and run because of haters, because God's armour covers your front, not your back.

   “God has given you an armour for everything except your back.”

   • Ephesians 6:13-17

2. 2. Your assignment determines the suffering and attacks you must encounter

   Jesus' assignment was to bring the love and mercy of God to the nations, so the devil raised the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Roman government against Him, but on the third day He rose again, and God will breathe life into you whatever dream killers do. Jesus promised houses, lands and family, but with persecutions.

   “The bigger the assignment, the bigger the suffering.”

   • Mark 10:29-30

3. 3. What grieves you is a clue to what you are assigned to heal and restore

   Anger about politics may point to politics, about how young people are educated to teaching, about premature deaths from sickness to medicine, and about shoddy administration to administration. Compassion signals where you belong.

   “What makes you cry is a clue to the problem God has qualified you to heal.”

4. 4. What you love the most reveals the greatest gifts you contain

   Passion is the path to your wisdom, because you only have wisdom for what you love. What you love to talk about, think about and learn about is the place of your assignment.

   Illustration: Someone who talks and dreams about cars from sunup to sundown may be meant to be a car dealer.

   “You'll only have wisdom for something you love.”

5. 5. Your assignment is geographical

   Where you are matters as much as what you are, because geography controls the flow of favour: who sees you determines who promotes you. Go where you are celebrated, as Abraham left his father's house and Ruth left Moab and found her husband.

   “You might be a beautiful whale, but being out of the water you are in trouble.”

   • Genesis 12:1
   • Ruth 1:16

6. 6. You will only succeed when your assignment becomes an obsession

   Paul was obsessed with preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and wrote almost two-thirds of the New Testament. Don't be mediocre: be passionate about Christ, His church and the things of God, so people see it in your worship, attendance and giving.

   “Paul was a great man because he was an obsessed man.”

7. 7. Your assignment will require seasons of preparation

   He congratulates young people earning degrees as preparation. Every Christian will pass through insignificance, isolation, waiting, warfare, persecution, injustice and silence, and also promotion. Jesus spent over 30 years preparing for three and a half years of ministry, so don't grow weary or jockey for promotion with zeal without knowledge; God's timing is perfect, and no one can stop Him promoting you.

   Illustration: Good wine takes time (he adds that he is not advocating drinking). God is the great chartered accountant who balances your books. Don't waste energy on trivial dogfights: little chihuahuas are cheeky and snappy but all bark.

   “Jesus invested over 30 years of his life for preparation of three and a half years of ministry.”

   • 2 Timothy 2:15
   • Luke 3:23
   • Romans 10:2

8. 8. Your assignment may be misunderstood by your own family

   Even Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him. God uses your family to prepare you: they are your school, as are difficult people at work. Having survived all the enemy's attacks until now is proof that you will survive your future.

   “Your family is your school.”

   • John 7:5

9. 9. Your assignment will always have an enemy

   Enemies are as necessary as friends: friends provide comfort, enemies provide promotion. Goliath promoted David, the boy his brothers scorned, until the women sang that Saul had slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. When enemies gossip about you to the boss, they are fast-forwarding you.

   “Your friends provide comfort, your enemies provide promotion.”

   • 1 Samuel 17:28
   • 1 Samuel 18:7