Setting Goals - January 3, 2008

Good Thursday morning! The glory of God shines through us on this fine day. Goals, the favorite subject of a new year. At work and in our personal life we are encouraged and even commanded to set goals. Usually the personal goals are encouraged and the work ones are commanded. Some of us have trouble because we set unattainable goals, too ambitious or too difficult. This can cause us to give up in defeat. Like a bad estimate from management, the goal is where the problem lies and not the attaining of it. A person might set a goal of walking to the moon. If that is simply a measure of miles walked in a lifetime, then that goal is fine. However, if the person means to actually walk from Earth to its satellite moon, through space, that would be a goal that probably won't happen anytime soon. We were not created with the ability to walk away from the Earth's gravitational field and cross the airless void between the planets and moons. Our goals for the month, year, or longer, must be realistic and attainable. Some goals may need the help of friends to attain. We may need encouragement or even someone to walk with us in reaching for a goal. Opening a business on your own has some advantages, but it may be good to look into starting with a partner.

Pastor Rogers left some good words of advice on goal setting for us and there are other sources of knowledge on goal setting. Setting bad goals is discouraging, setting good goals is encouraging. We need the wisdom of our Lord when setting our goals for the year and our lifetime. "Where do you want to be in five years?" is a favorite question of managers and bosses. That is also a good question for our Christian walk. Where do we want to be five, ten, or twenty years from now? Those questions can be very difficult to answer. At the age of 25, I can recall that I did not know where I wanted to be at 30, 35, and 45 years of age. At that age, I know that I was not asking God to reveal His plan for my life, and that probably had a great deal to do with why I did not know where I was headed in life.

It may take some time for you to discover your purpose in life. I pray that you will discover, if you have not already, through God's guidance, His will and purpose for your life.

Have a wonderful day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky