I write about assignments a lot, and mostly I focus on the ‘big ones’ — those endeavors that take months, or sometimes years, to complete.

The plain truth, however, is that there is an assignment every day. On a daily basis, we are tasked with sharing the Good News of Christ in our own unique way, or with cultivating Christ more fully in ourselves.

To share the promise of eternal life, or to die to ourselves.

Another plain truth is that we fail in both cases most of the time. Not because the tasks are difficult (though some certainly are), but because we simply don’t want to do them.

In this text, the prophet Samuel rebukes Saul for his disobedience. Saul was supposed to destroy all of the Amalekites and all of their possessions, but when Samuel arrives, he not only finds their king, Agag, still alive, but also plenty of livestock preserved for a sacrifice.

Saul didn’t skip the assignment because he was lazy. He swapped it for something that looked like devotion, and when Samuel pressed him, he admitted why: “I feared the people and obeyed their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24). That’s the trap with the some of our assignments: it’s easier to pour hours into visible, impressive work than to make one uncomfortable phone call.

I’m not judging you, or Saul, or anyone else. I see it in myself as well.

Just this past week, I was tasked with calling people I did not call, and to remain steadfast with habits I was supposed to be done with, but wasn’t. I rightly sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit, then quietly wiped those tasks off my to-do list. Or rearranged them into something more palatable.

Praise God. His mercy endures forever — but maybe we can grow to presume on it less. Rather than needing His mercy to cover over all of our missteps, maybe we can take fewer missteps to begin with.

Let this be a week of greater obedience. With tasks big and small. With the ones we enjoy, and ones we don’t. Start with one: write down something the Spirit has nudged you toward that you’ve been putting off, and see it through this week.

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Obedience like takes steadfastness, so that’s what we’ll be praying for tomorrow during Power Prayer Weekly Kickoff. If you need more steadfastness to remain faithful in this season (and who doesn’t?), please join us at 6am ET on YouTube.