Our Own Goals
Posted Thu, 03/03/2011 - 1:00am by Dr. Carolyn Tennant
Read Proverbs 20:24.
Although goal-setting and planning are critical for our public leadership, there comes a time when God wants us to relinquish these activities as they involve our own personal goals.
Now before you disagree, follow my thought a little further. Indeed, I do believe in the importance of establishing personal goals. I have them, as well as an individual statement of mission. The latter has been reviewed and reworked regularly, and I find it to be a wonderful gauge regarding the priorities and commitments in my life.
So what was I referring to in the first sentence? Though these personal goals are written, always in the back of my mind is a higher commitment; that is to God Himself. The Lord's goals and plans supersede my own, and I am dedicated to those more than to my own.
This means that I am willing to scrap my personal goals at a moment's notice. What I have written and thought through has been accomplished through prayer and seeking God. The product has, as much as possible, reflected my understanding of God's desires for my life. But still, the light has not yet been shed on every aspect. Therefore, as God opens up His plan for my life, additional insight is provided. I may have to add, delete, or revise what I first understood.
It is critical to hold loosely to our own individual goals and plans. If we grasp them too tightly, we may try to ramrod our own design against the very plans of God. Not a nice collision course! There is a lurking danger that we can get our own ambitions and our stubborn ways into the gears of what God is producing from our lives.
At one point in my life, as the Lord was dealing with me about these things, someone said to me, "Dr. Tennant, what are your goals for your life?" I looked down and thought to myself, "In a very real sense, I have none."
I went on to explain to this young lady that I had goals on paper, many hopes and dreams, but in the end, I knew God was in charge. And not only was that all right, but essential to my well-being. I didn't want to hold on so tightly to my own plans for myself that I could not easily or readily allow God to make some changes. In essence, God can do anything He wants, any way He wants, any time He wants. Have at it, Lord.