Setting Clear Goals in Life

 

 Setting Clear Goals. In Life

Introduction:

As we established before, a goal is something you look forward to achieve. It is at the beginning of the year that most set their annual goals. You may ask why set goals? 

Habakkuk 2:2

[2]Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.

The conjunction 'THAT' in this context is used to introduce the purpose or the desired result. Therefore, when the Bible says write the vision plain upon tablets that he may run who reads it, it means that the vision is written for the purpose of helping you run or to produce the result of moving; focused activity and progress. It motivates you to move towards an end. A runner is motivated to run by the fact that there is a prize (there is an end to achieve). A footballer also plays well so that they may score a goal. Apostle Paul also writes by inspiration that he presses on towards a goal;  

Philippians 3:14

[14]I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

Having a clear goal set in your mind becomes a motivating factor towards accomplishment. Yes, you are now writing the vision, the goal, the resolution but what to write?  

Our lives were preordained by God; He is the one who sets your purpose thus you can only know and walk in it through Him. We are serving different purposes on earth and in every season, there is a part of your purpose you are supposed to accomplish. It then becomes necessary to involve God in goal setting so that you can walk in alignment with what He has set for you to achieve. This is where you plan according to the will of God; where you want what He wants for you. When it is so, you walk in His path and experience accomplishment in your endeavours. It is so that the Bible says acknowledge God in your ways and your path will be straight. To acknowledge in this context is to recognize God's authority and will. You not only recognize it but submit and agree to it. When you do this, there is a promise of God directing and straightening your path. 

Now, how you know God's will for you in a particular season is by having a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The book of 1 Corinthians 2, the Holy Spirit searches the things of God and reveals them to us. He is able and willing to reveal to you what God has purposed for you to accomplish this year and how you walk in it is through submission and obedience. God works with the willing and obedient. You must be willing to be directed by Him then your obedience will sustain you in His direction/path. You do not just agree to the end/purpose that He wants for you, you also agree with the strategies/ways He will use to get you there. The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It leads you to knowing what is God's will. Such that when a goal comes to your heart, you will be able to gauge whether it is in accordance to God's will. In prayer, your relationship with the Holy Spirit will develop where He will guide you through the path towards the goal. 

The preciousness of planning with God is not only in the joy of knowing you are walking in God's will but also the surety of the success of the plans. Proverbs 16:3 backs this;

[3]Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

When you put God in charge of and entrust Him your plan-making, that is when you align them to His will, your plans are established. This is because God must fulfill His will. 

Psalms 37:4-5

[4]Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

[5]Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

To delight is to take pleasure in something/someone, it is also to gratify that is to give in to, to agree with something. So, when implored to delight in the Lord, we are being advised to take pleasure in Him, to indulge ourselves in Him, spend time and acquaint (know God & His will) ourselves with Him and when we do so, the Lord's desires becomes our desires. This way, they are fulfilled because they are desires after His will. Commit them now to the Lord and trust Him and it shall come to pass.

It's not too late to set goals for the year and not only for the year but for your life ahead. It is good to have a written vision, it helps you run; it keeps you motivated and focused till you reach the end and for sure it comes to pass if it's in accordance with God's will. Rely on God from the making of the plan to its execution, He's ready to send help.