Have you noticed that God is not a cookie-cutter Creator who always does things exactly the same way with all of His children? Rather, He deals with everyone individually. There is an abundance of variety in the lives of followers of Jesus Christ, and it facilitates a life of adventure for everyone who sets out by faith to follow the leadership of God as they grow through the different stages of life.

Let’s think about a couple of examples which hopefully will illustrate this point: the Apostle Paul, and a demon possessed man from whom the demon was exorcised by Jesus. We will give consideration first to Paul, and then to the demon possessed man.

The story of Paul (whose name was Saul before God changed it to Paul) is found in the book of Acts, and the passage we will consider is Acts 9:15-16:

But the Lord said to him [Ananias], Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.

The risen Lord Jesus appeared to Saul as he made his way to Damascus to arrest anyone there who identified themselves as followers of Jesus. On his way, he was personally confronted by the Lord, and blinded by the Lord, and instructed by the Lord to go into the city, and there he would be told what to do. Meanwhile, God was speaking to a man named Ananias, telling him to go to the city, find a particular house of one Simon on Straight Street. There, he would find Saul. He was then to deliver a message to this man who had been so opposed to those who were followers of the Lord.

His message to Saul was that he would go before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. He would be a traveler, a missionary, one who went from place to place, town to town, city to city, metropolis to metropolis. This would be his life. This would be his adventure.

The story of the demoniac is found in Luke 8:26-39. I would encourage you to turn to that passage now and read it in its entirety. Here are the concluding two verses of his story:

Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him [Jesus] that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Saul, who became the apostle Paul, moved from place to place, preaching, teaching, founding churches, training leaders, always on the move, always on mission for the Lord. The one who had been formerly possessed by demons wanted to go with Jesus, to follow Him on His journeys, to be at His side along with others who were doing so. But Jesus told him to go home, to share the story of his salvation with his own family and friends.

Both of these men were touched by the Lord. Both of them were saved by His grace. But each of them were given vastly different assignments in the Lord’s work. One was to go; one was to stay. One was to be an itinerant missionary; the other was to be a stationary witness. One was to live a life of daily assignments, not knowing where the Holy Spirit would lead next; the other was told to stay at home, and to be a witness for the Lord there.

God has different assignments for each of His children. Most will stay where they are, continuing to do the same things they were doing before being saved (unless, of course, what they were doing was sinful behavior, from which Jesus would expect genuine repentance!). They were to remain at home, being a witness to family, friends, acquaintances, fellow employees, etc. This would be their assignment, this would be their mission.

Others will be called to go – wherever the Lord leads, to whomever He might send, to places they have never been, which would require learning languages they had not previously spoken, to people with whom they are not familiar. This would be their mission.

We are different, and God deals with us differently. The important thing for us to remember is that whatever God leads us to do, He will equip us for the task. But, whatever we do, wherever we go, with whomever we meet, every day, we are on mission for the Lord. Take the assignment seriously. Be on mission for Him. Let His light shine through us everywhere, with everyone, so that He might receive the glory.

Blessings!