Tag, You’re It

Prayer

Father God, in the name of Jesus, we come today to hear a word from You. We don’t want the flesh to muddy up today’s enterprise. No, we have come to love and expect the unadulterated word of God because we know how serious this thing called life is and how important and urgent the work of studying and praying are to the obedient, fruit-filled assignment we have ahead of us. So we ask that You remove any distraction that seeks to keep us from hearing exactly what You want us to hear. Remove any thought that seeks to wrestle truth away from us that we may glorify You. Have Your way right now, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we pray! Amen.

Y’all know I’m a nerd, right? I like to read, but sometimes reading has led to some unfortunate outcomes for me. I remember when I was pregnant with my oldest child. I gathered all these books about pregnancy, and in one of them What to Expect When You’re Expecting, I read about labor pains.

One day, when I was a little girl, I came in from playing outside, and my mama and auntie were sitting at the kitchen table talking. But in the background, on this little tv we had on the counter this lady was screaming and writhing in pain. Y’all, we didn’t have cable, so this must have been some PBS special or something because this lady was naked on this table screaming with something pushing out from where my mama said don’t let nobody touch. I looked at my mama and auntie and asked “What in the world are y’all watching?”

“She’s having a baby,” they said, looking at me in a sinister sort of way.

“That’s how you have babies?” I questioned, scared to move closer but too far away to make out what was actually happening. I could feel my mama and auntie staring at me, but I could not stop watching the horrifying spectacle before me.

When that slimy, hollering baby finally came out, I announced, “I ain’t never having no kids. Nope, that ain’t never coming out of me!” I crossed my legs tight for emphasis and just knew that parenthood was NEVER in my future.

Well, when I was pregnant with Marilyn, that PBS Special came flooding back in its full and scary glory, and there I was with What to Expect When You’re Expecting propped up on my belly. I remembered what I saw that day in my mama’s kitchen, but I needed to know exactly what that was going to feel like.

Here’s what it said, “Contractions feel like a tightening of your abdomen or period cramps, and can cause a dull ache in your lower abdomen and back.” For three days y’all I was in full-blown labor and did not know it because I was expecting something like period cramps. I was a G at handling period cramps. I aced final exams with period cramps. I broke up fights with period cramps. But this right here, the murderous stabbing pains that shot through my body every so often, nah, this wasn’t that. So in my mind, I could not have been in labor because the book said “like period cramps.” Nothing I had seen or read prepared me for the truth of labor pains. I told my sister-in-law who had just had my niece two months earlier what I was experiencing and she was like, “Girl, you in labor! Go to the hospital.”

Have you ever felt like that. You set up in your mind an expectation. You tell yourself what it’s supposed to be like, but when it’s about to go down, you get so afraid that you let all reason leave you. So you walk around like me, like a fool, for three days in full-blown labor because you too scared to admit that maybe, just maybe the time has come!

I imagine this is how Joshua felt on some level. For 40 years he had been Moses’ apprentice. For 40 years he fought battles against the enemies of Israel, stood watch over Moses and the tent of meeting where the Moses met with God. For 40 years he was the assistant. Now, in Deuteronomy 31:7-8, it was his turn. God tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Tag, you’re it!”

Read our focus text with me: Deuteronomy 31:7-8

Deuteronomy 31:7–8 NASB95

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Last week, we squeezed fresh juice out of a familiar parable, the Parable of the Talents. We talked about how the one with the five talents and the one with the two talents immediately got about the business of the Master when He entrusted them with “each according to their own ability.” Today, we’re going to talk about the mindset necessary of those God entrusts with critical assignments for His kingdom. When God tags you into His kingdom building work, this is the passage you need at your fingertips!

The entire book of Deuteronomy is a group of speeches (or one long speech some argue) that recounts the history of the Israelites in the wilderness. God has already told Moses that he will not be the one to take Israel into the Promised Land, and when Moses pleaded asking God to name a successor so that the people would not been like sheep without a shepherd, Numbers 27:18 reports,

Numbers 27:18 NASB95

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;

So when Moses summons Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7, he does so at God’s behest, and God knows Joshua. He knows that the Spirit of God is in him. In all biblical mentions of Joshua to this point, we see him as a dutiful assistant. We see him as a warrior and guardian. But God elevates him because He sees the Spirit in Him. This brings us to our first point about the perspective we need to have: God looks for the Spirit in us. What happens when you are elevated, but the Spirit of God is not in you? You don’t have the character to maintain it. What if you are called to suffer for the faith but the Spirit of God is not in you? You waffle and comprise. You water-down the truth to preserve yourself. You are not like Stephen, who convicted by the word of the Lord was faithful even to the point of death. Acts 7:55 reports,

Acts 7:55 NASB95

But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;

Will your character, full of the Holy Spirit, get a standing ovation from Jesus Himself? Will he look down on you working those talents He gave you into the good fruit He created you to bear, working that assignment He gave you and leap to His feet for you? Will the Savior of the world stand up for you?

Tag, you’re it! Can God say, I commission her for this work because My Spirit is in her?

Let’s keep going. Moses called to Joshua in the sight of all Israel. Notice here that it doesn’t say that Moses called to Joshua in the approval of all Israel. It doesn’t even say Moses called to Joshua in the favor of all Israel. It doesn’t say that Moses called to Joshua in the consultation of all Israel. Stop waiting on man to authorize what God already commissioned you for! Part of the reason why so many of us don’t live up to our kingdom building potential is because we are too busy trying to ask man his opinion on what God already said. This brings us to our second critical perspective for when God tags you into service: Just because God moves you into your assigned position in the sight of man does not mean that man has a say. When Jesus came home and crowds gathered around him, his family and friends did not understand God’s call on His life. Look at Mark 3:21:

Mark 3:21 NASB95

When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

In other words, they were saying, we need to go get that boy. Jesus done lost His mind! Why are you looking for validation from people about your calling who don’t understand your calling. Why are their opinions about the assignment on your life greater than God’s revealed plan for your life?

But it’s also important that you don’t get too cavalier with the crowd. There is a reason why God positions you in their sight: 1) You are there to be a model of Spirit-filled living. What you say is important, but what you do is even more important. Could Joshua have gotten this promotion, could Moses have vouched for him if Joshua’s character over the 40 years did not substantiated God’s election? Remember, this is critical work Joshua is assigned. Joshua is to lead the people into the Promised Land. This promise is over 400 years in the making. God did not entrust this responsibility to just anybody. Joshua has the Spirit of God in him. Not only might you be elevated in the sight of people to be a model for the people, but 2) You are elevated in their sight to keep you grounded that your assignment is not for you but for the benefit of all. You are responsible for others. Too many times we want our quote, unquote season to be about our personal elevation. God loves you, but he never only has the individual in mind. God loves people. Plural. God elevates that His people benefit. Your conduct influences the people. Your attitude influences the people. Your labor or lack thereof influences the people. You are responsible to and for the people of God. Their eyes are always watching, even when you think they aren’t. What will the people see when you’re tired? What will the people see when you’re challenged? What will the people see when you’re scared? Remember, Moses called Joshua in the sight of all Israel! So while they don’t have a say in the deliverance of the assignment to you, they certainly have their sights on how you execute it. You are responsible for what they see!

Perhaps the reason why you haven’t moved into your next season is because God is waiting on you develop something worth seeing. God does not rely on our perfection before our elevation, but there is an expectation that while we are apprenticing for the assignment He designed for us that we are developing into something worth taking note of, worthy of seeing. Gideon was separating wheat in the winepress, using his ingenuity to protect the harvest. Then the angel came with a message from the Lord. David was in the fields, shepherding his family’s flock, fighting bears and lions to protect his sheep. Then Samuel came with a flask of oil and a diving and royal pronouncement. Esther was all dolled up, winning the favor of the eunuch in charge of the harem, finding favor as the Bible reports “in the eyes of all who saw her.” Then Mordecai came with an assignment for “such a time as this.” Tag, you’re it!

When Moses brings Joshua up before the congregation, he begins with two commands: “Be strong and courageous.” This is our third perspective. First, God looks for the Spirit in us. Second, God elevates us in man’s sight, not for man’s say. Third, God expects us to move in strength and courage. Right perspective of this Christian walk demands a realistic view of the hardship you are going to face as you go about the work God has assigned you. If it were going to be easy and convenient, there would be no need for God to command through Moses, “Be strong and courageous.” Jesus says, “In this life you will have tribulation.” Yet we have to be strong and courageous. Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” But you have to be strong and courageous. Jesus says, “Whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” So you have to be strong and courageous. You can’t be up against what Jesus says is required of fulfillment in Him without being strong and courageous!

The assignments before us are critical to His kingdom. There are promises we are designed to help bring into fruition. God tells Joshua through Moses, “you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers.” Notice the two-fold meaning of “with this people.” Not only are you, like those you are going to lead, recipients of the promise, but you are also assigned with leading them into taking possession of it. As stated before, your mission is not simply for you. If you carry out assignments like you are the sole beneficiary, you are necessarily NOT doing what God called you to do. Gideon was to lead the people against the Midianites that they would be free from oppression. David was to lead the people of God as their king and spiritual example. Esther was to appeal to the king on behalf of the people that they would not be slaughtered. Your assignment is for the people of God to receive what God has for them! Not just you. You are both a part of the people and responsible for the people. Tag, you’re it!

But God does not give us expectations that He is not prepared to equip us to fulfill. Your charge of being strong and courageous is not for you to find and muster it on your own. Instead, God reminds us that our strength comes from Him. Deuteronomy 31:8 says

Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB95

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Who said you had to figure it out on your own, Sis? Who said you had to do this all by yourself? God says, I go ahead of you. I pave the way. God says, “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” He goes ahead of you. When they were wandering in the wilderness following the exodus, “the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…” so it doesn’t matter whether you are called to go by day or travel by night—God leads the way. Be strong and courageous.

But our God not only goes ahead of us, but look at what it says, “He will be with you.” I love that the God I serve will go before Me and at the same time He is with me. I don’t have to rely on myself. God said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” When we “draw near to God, He will draw near to us.” The psalmist says, “But for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord my refuge that I may tell of all your works.” God stays right by your side. Be strong and courageous.

Again, God is ready to be your source of strength and courage. In addition to going ahead of you and being with you, God will not fail you or forsake you. This means that God won’t let you down. We have all had occasions when someone promised to be there, promised to come through, but didn’t. God isn’t like that. God says, I won’t fail you. I won’t let you down. I won’t leave you alone. God doesn’t give you the assignment then walk away, leaving you in the cubicle of life to figure it out on your own. Every step of the way, he’s right there.

When Moses tells Joshua at the end of our verse Do not fear, do not be dismayed, he has laid out the reasons why. The road ahead may be scary, but when you know that the road you are traveling is the one God put you on, there is no need to walk in fear. When you know that God is with you, you don’t have to shake in your boots. Extreme concern about the future is not the way of the one who knows that God tagged her into the fight. When God says, tag, you’re it, you know you’re not there to do the job on your own.

You were made for this, Sis. Allow the Spirit of God to dwell richly in you. Remember that your elevation may be in sight of man, but man doesn’t have a say. You are responsible to for those God sends you to lead. You must conduct yourself impeccably in their sight because they are watching. God sent them to watch you because He trusts you. And while it may be hard, while it may be inconvenient, while it may be scary, be strong and courageous. You don’t go on your own or in your own strength. You go behind God Almighty. He is with you and will never fail or forsake you. Don’t walk like you’re scared. Don’t walk like your anxious. Remember, you don’t walk alone. When God tags you in, He already knows you’re the perfect for this assignment. Expect to be fruitful. Expect that you will fulfill your kingdom assignment. Amen?

Prayer:

Father God, we are grateful that You chose us to fulfil the assignment You created us for. We trust Your decision. Let us execute all that we are asked to do in ways that are pleasing and glorifying to You. Let us accept the assignment with humility and love, remembering that this is not about us, but about You and Your kingdom. Have your way in us! In the matchless name of Jesus, we pray! Amen