How do we, as believers, set goals in a Godly way?
I am naturally a goal setter. When I have goals in life, I am much more motivated. However, there was a season in my life when I felt that I had to surrender all my goals and dreams to the Lord and wait for Him to move in my life. I thought not having goals was more spiritual. This ended up being a frustrating experience, which led me to feeling stuck for a long time.
A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
After years of waiting, I finally sought counsel from mature believers who told me making plans is not necessarily a bad thing. They told me that if my plan is not against the principles of God, it is not a problem because He gives us the ability to reason and choose. It took me a while to get used to the idea of making plans because I was fearful for being out of the will of God. I had to let go of the idea that making plans was a carnal activity.
When God called Noah to build the Ark, it must have taken great planning to accomplish such an enormous task (See Genesis 6). God gave him the specifics but Noah would have still needed to do the planning for such an extensive project. It is estimated that it could have taken Noah up to 65 years to complete the Ark. He couldn’t have just woken up every morning and decided to go with the flow. It would have required planning and scheduling for months and years in order to complete this project. God had given Noah an assignment, and he was diligent to do His work, stay on task, and do it in a timely manner.
My husband and I did an extensive remodel in our house years ago. We picked a construction manager and gave him our specification for the size and the placement of rooms. He along with an architect drew a blueprint to our specifications. After our agreement on the blueprint, we were not involved in the day to day construction. If he didn’t hear from us, it meant he was doing fine, and he should continue doing what we asked him to do.If the construction manager needed some direction, he came to us and asked a clarifying question, but we didn’t micro manage the project.
God’s assignment and our plans have similar partnership. We know what God has spoken, so we move forward with what we know. Sometimes He speaks specifically and sometimes generally, so we go to work planning our lives and activities based on what we know is true and right in His sight and according to the word of God. In situations or places where we are not sure, we ask the Lord clarifying questions to make sure we remain on the right path.
As a believer, our goals are not to be set in stone. We remain open to God’s leading and changing our direction if/when He chooses to do so. However, in the absence of hearing his voice, we move forward with the plans we have made staying flexible and attentive to His voice for any change of direction.
Do you have goals for your life? If so, do you remain flexible and persevering in the process of achieving them? If you don’t set goals, is fear holding you back?
