Acts 19:21
Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to
pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I
have been there, I must also see Rome.
Setting Goals
We all need to be setting goals in life, but there’s a huge
difference between setting godly goals and setting goals for our own
purposes. We make plans, but it is really God Who ultimately directs our
steps (Prov. 16:9). We seek purposes that we think are best in our
hearts, but in the end, God’s purpose will stand. The Lord even
determines who the leaders should be (Joshua 7:14; 1 Cor. 14:28; Eph
4:11). Therefore, we should seek God’s will so that our plans for the
future will be in alignment with His sovereign will. Setting goals is
fine for the secular part of our life, but even in this area, God wants
us to submit to Him. So place your goals in God’s hands, and pray for
His will to be done in your life with every goal you set.
God’s Plans for Our Future
I want my goals to be godly because I know God has plans for me, as
well as He does for you, and they are for our good (Jer. 29:11; 3 John
1:12). One goal I try to pray for each day, which is the immediate
future, is to have a divine appointment with someone who has not yet
trusted in Christ. It’s amazing–although knowing God, it shouldn’t amaze
me–that God does answer this prayer and set before me an opportunity to
introduce the Gospel to someone who might be in a position of turning
their life over to God. I also know that God seeks to be glorified in me
by what I do (Isaiah 42:8, 11), and I should not be seeking my own
glory (John 7:18) because even Jesus didn’t seek His own glory alone
while on earth but to glorify the Father (John 8:50). That should be our
immediate goal from the moment we walk out of the house.
A Godly Goal
We can find out that God does want us to prosper and be in good
health (3 John 1:2), but if you read the context of the first chapter of
3 John, you can see that John’s not talking about financial prosperity,
although there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Our goals should
be to glorify God, to be part of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20;
Acts 1:8), to make our will what God’s will is for us, and to place our
future in His sovereign hands. To seek God’s will is to seek the perfect
will for our lives, even though it might seem anything but perfect at
the time (Rom. 8:28). It’s a matter of trust. This doesn’t mean that we
should boast about doing something or going somewhere tomorrow (James
4:13) but that we should plan as if it’s God’s will because we can’t
even know what this day or the next year will hold (James 4:15). Set
godly goals–write them down in a journal somewhere. Then check back in
your journal to see where this wonderful journey called life is taking
you.
A Closing Prayer
Great Father God, I know that You hold the future in Your hands
because You know the future. My hands and my mind are incapable of
knowing and doing either outside of Your will. So please give me the
help I need to know what goals You would have me set and then seek to
intentionally fulfill them for Your glory, and in Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
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