Goals

“Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” 

(Proverbs 4:25-27 KJV)

The first two months of this year are nearly gone. Now is a good time to take a look at how we have started this year. For the first time in many years, I set goals (not resolutions) for myself—they are ambitious and address different areas of my life. They are all good (according to my mentor), positive goals that don’t require the cooperation of others—meaning that I’m responsible for either doing them or not doing them.

The goals encompass reading, writing, creativity (singing/piano playing), ministry (including this blog) and more. They are worded in such a way to allow me to maintain my focus on the Lord, this is important for me and where I desire to go. Many of my goals focus on reading spiritually nurturing books and also writing about what I’m learning (some may eventually end up here).

 It is my heart’s sincere desire that you are setting time aside in your daily schedule to commune with God and that you’re growing in your relationship with Him. God loves you so much and desires nothing more than relationship with you.  He loves you so much, in fact, He’s crazy about you! Keeping your eyes on the goal (prize), will help you stay focused and not get off track. A word of caution: be kind to yourself, realizing that some days/weeks will not be so great; things will go wrong—give yourself the grace you deserve—give yourself the grace you would give to others. Encourage yourself over how far you have come.

It’s when we take our eyes off of our goal that we have an inclination to go off the path that will take us to where we want to be. This is rather like driving a car; we need to keep our eyes on the road ahead of us, not on what is to the sides or behind us. Taking our eyes off the road when driving could send us off into a ditch; much the same could be for our spiritual life. It’s easy to recall times where I have gotten off into a “ditch” spiritually because I have focused on the wrong place/thing. Getting off course is not always easy to correct, in fact, it’s easy (or so it seems) to over-correct in the opposite direction. Thankfully, we have a wonderfully patient Teacher and Guide. Jesus stands by; ever ready to guide us back on the path He has for us.
 

Moreover, this is where supportive relationships (accountability) with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are so helpful.  Our relationships allow us to lend a helping, supportive hand to a sister or brother who is hurting or struggling; we can also be on the receiving end of the help and support of others.
 

How are you doing with your New Year’s goals? What goals have you set for yourself and what are you doing to work towards them?

Please join with me in prayer:

Dear Lord of All, we desire to set our eyes on the prize—on You, yet sometimes we fail. We get distracted and get far, far off course. Thank you for all those times you have come after us, to rescue us from ourselves and from the attacks that threaten to destroy us.  Lord, grant us the strength and stamina we need to keep on keeping on, so that we’ll be able to reach our goal of being welcomed home by You when we die. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim