On Mission

It is two weeks into the New Year, so it is time to ask: How are you doing with your resolutions? While it is hard to accurately measure, many studies report approximately one in four resolutions are abandoned in the first week, and nearly half of them are given up on by the end of January.

So if you are still going strong and reading The Equipped after returning from the gym, you are beating the odds! Keep it up!

No matter your resolution—it could be anything from exercising to eating healthier to getting enough sleep—I invite you to pursue it with the following question always in mind: 

“Are you on mission?”

You have probably heard of the one-percent rule. In short, it is the idea that doing just a little bit at a time but ensuring it is performed regularly and aimed consistently in the same direction will result in huge progress.

When I think about the one-percent rule, it certainly rings true. The biggest challenge for me—and perhaps for you—is staying consistently on mission. There are so many obstacles to this, and the enemy would love to occupy you with anything but the mission God has given you, so let’s dig in and figure out how to stay on mission every day.

First, in order to truly be on mission, you need to clearly identify your mission! Obviously, God has called you to many aspects of being an ambassador for Him on Earth. His Word says He works in all things “for the good of those who love him [and] have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). So there will be many ways in which you walk this out, but pause for a moment and truly think about this: 

Can you articulate precisely what portion of His work God has called you to?

Let me give you a personal example. You and I talk regularly about how God’s Word repeatedly reaffirms the Truth that we were made for God. Once again, my favorite depiction of this is Isaiah 43:21: “[T]he people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” So I was made for God, and to be a vessel for His praise.

But that can look like a lot of different things on a day-to-day basis, and so God and I have been having very regular and very specific conversations about the precise mission He has assigned me. Because we serve a relational God, this is never a one and done conversation, but God has been speaking to my spirit that His assignment for me is to invest in healthy followers of Jesus.

So every day I am reminding myself to prioritize that mission. I am telling myself (often out loud, and sometimes to the bewilderment of those in earshot) to “stay on mission.” I am resolving to do a little each day to invest in the health of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

So what about you? Do you know with precision your mission? There’s no shame if the answer is no. In fact, you can run to God in exuberance and ask Him to show you (Matt. 7:7-8)! He is longing for you to ask! That is part of His rationale for our design. He wants to be in relationship with you. So ask!

But if you do know your mission—if you can articulate it and put it into words—how consistently are you staying on mission? Are you redeeming every day and every opportunity for that mission? Or, as the days and weeks go by, is your resolve fading?

My friend, we may be two weeks into the New Year, but the best day to get back on mission is always today!

What is your mission? Do you know it? Can you define it? If yes, endeavor to stay on mission today (Ecc. 9:10)!

The preceding article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.