Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
David was dying and he said to Solomon:
keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: I Kings 2:1
Charge means: Keep that which God has entrusted to you.
For me, the assignment from God is defined by the following dream: I was traveling by plane with a small group and we landed on an island. It was hot, dirty, sort of like pineapple field might be. There were children on the island. At some point I realized they were going to leave me there to take care of those children. I said, "I won't stay ... I won't stay ..." Then I said, "Unless you want me to." The group left me there. A pastor and his wife were on the island but they wouldn't come out of their house.
The assignment for me was to care for the church, the children of God. And that is what I have been doing for the past 35 years.
What is the assignment for you?
For men: The assignment from God is to work and provide for your family. God ordained this for men in Genesis 3 ... And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
For most women, it is to care for their own children and teach their children to love their own husbands.
Unto the woman He (God) said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Gen. 3
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Titus 2
And for some there is an additional assignment ... the care of the church as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher.
When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Eph. 4
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. I Cor. 12:18
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28And God hath set some in the church,(some are set in the church to care for the church) first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. I Cor. 12:27
The important thing for each of us is to know our assignment that is from God and to faithfully keep that assignment as long as we are on this earth.
For men, the labor in the Lord is to work and provide for their own families.
For women, the labor in the Lord is to care for their own husbands and their own children.
And for some men and women, they are to care for the church.
The important thing is to stay in that which is assigned to you by God for that is your labor in the Lord.
be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. I Cor. 15:58