On Mission for God

In “Victory over the darkness”, Neil T. Anderson uses his extensive experience in Christian counselling to tackle a key issue preventing many Christians from living life victoriously. Anderson identifies that many Christians have been discouraged and deflated in their attempts to be on mission for God. These people have a deep and insatiable yearning to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God, yet their efforts have met with Anderson notes that many Christians get deflated when their efforts are met with hardship and even failure. This leaves them feeling defeatist and even questioning their faith. Despite their ‘best intentions’, they are not living out the victory that they long for. Anderson speaks to this dilemma in a twofold manner. He suggests that we analyse our underlying motivations; and differentiates between godly goals and godly desires.

OUR MOTIVE FOR MISSION

What motivates you to be on mission for God? We can answer that question ‘correctly’ but what about truthfully? A reflection on our emotions will assist in this regard: negative emotions may indicate that our motivations are wrong. Often what people define as a godly goal for their lives is tarnished by selfish ambition and pride, which are in opposition to the Word. It’s no wonder that these ‘godly goals’ fail. Anderson maintains that “When you begin to align your goals and desires with God’s goals and desires, you will have a lot less anger and anxiety”. What about when our intentions are right but we still have negative emotions?

Is it possible that we are on mission for God to win His approval? We do not need to perform great projects for God in order to earn His approval and feel worthy. If we attach our sense of worth to the fulfilment of godly desires, our emotions and confidence will fluctuate. As His children, by the cross and the grace of God, we are already highly favoured. Nothing we do, or omit to do will change God’s love for us. We serve and reach out, not to secure favour, but in response to how He has already redeemed us and saved us and loved us. 

Goals vs Desires

Understanding the difference between godly goals and godly desires is revealing and liberating. Anderson defines a godly goal as “any specific orientation that reflects God’s purposes for your life and is not dependent upon people or circumstances beyond your ability to control”. He defines a godly desire as “any specific result that depends on the cooperation of other people, the success of events or favourable circumstances you have no right or ability to control”.

A godly desire can have the most noble intentions and motivations. However, they are only desires. As pure and wonderful as a godly desire may seem to us, they might not align to God’s plans. We cannot possibly begin to comprehend the magnitude of God’s thoughts and plans. He is such a master strategist that He determined the victorious ending from the very beginning. Sometimes, in our exuberance to serve God, we make the mistake of elevating a godly desire to a godly goal. Then, when God allows our best laid plans for His kingdom to get wrecked, we find ourselves feeling angry, dejected, deflated or despondent. We may even wrestle with God, arguing with that our desires should be His goals. Desires don’t always pan out. And that is life. The more time and energy we use in contemplating our own plans for our lives, the less likely we are to seek God’s plan. The more we vacillate between God’s plans and our own ideas. 

Everything we do, our ministry and our career may change over time, but God’s goal for us, our calling does not change. Once we have prioritised these godly goals in our lives, we will be positioned to positively impact God’s kingdom and produce good fruit. We won’t just add significance; we will add eternal significance.

A WARTIME MISSION

We must be mindful that ours is a wartime mission. Being on mission for God is in contention with the world and we find ourselves being diabolically opposed by Satan. God has assured us that He has the victory secured and the battle is His. Our part is to guard our hearts and minds and stand firm in the knowledge of our identity in God, trust in His promises and follow His lead.

God has equipped us for the mission He has planned for us. Anderson argues that “You wouldn’t give your children tasks they couldn’t possibly complete and God doesn’t assign to you goals that you can’t achieve. His goals for you are certain and achievable.” However, nothing worth achieving is ever achieved without hard work and determination. Persevering through trials hones character and strengthens our faith. Strength of character, in God’s eyes, is being able to bear the fruit of the Spirit despite our circumstances. As we persevere and trust God, we prove that God can trust us. He will then be able to send us on more critical missions.

FINDING FULFILMENT IN THE MISSION

It is important that we have a sense of fulfilment in our mission for God. Our fulfilment is linked to realising God’s calling on our life and living that out to its best potential. While there are times in our life where need to shake things up to grow, there are also times when we need to consolidate and stabilise our position. Finding fulfilment means finding our niche, accepting God’s unique place for us and thriving. It means blooming where we’re planted: sowing into those around us and following God’s lead. Fulfilment comes from living righteously, investing into the quality of our relationships and serving God with excellence in what we do.

​Title:        Victory over the darkness – realising the power of your identity in Christ.

Author:    Neil T. Anderson                        Publisher: Regal Books, 2000                                 ISBN:       0-8307-2564-4