Notes from Pastor Rick | Print |

Goals: The Bridge Between Dreams and Reality
Growing up I had some dreams, goals, and visions in life. When I was about ten or twelve years old, all I could think about was becoming a pro football player. I loved playing football. When I went to high school, I realized that I couldn’t play on the team because I was scrawny and little and I probably would have gotten killed. It was like my life had passed me up. The dream that I really wanted, I couldn’t do. But, that dream was really a dream, not a goal.

So, in high school, my goal was just to get out. Immediately after high school, I joined the navy; and my goal, once again, was to get out. After about 6 years, I got out.

The navy really matured me and I got to find out a little bit what life was all about. Soon after the navy, I went to college. My goal in college was different. I wanted to be a radio and television broadcaster; mainly a sportscaster. To the shock of everyone, I had a 3.5 average. I was really excited about my goal until I asked someone I knew (who had already graduated and became a newscaster) how much money he made. All of the air went out of my sails when he told me. All this time I had thought they made big bucks. Being as shortsighted as I was, back then, I just had a dream, no goal.

So I dropped out of college and went into the insurance business. My goal then was to become rich and famous. These goals sounded good - except they were meaningless; they were wandering generalities. It was then that I learned the importance of setting meaningful goals and how to do it. All my life I said I wanted certain things, but those things were just fantasy, nothing concrete. We have a tendency to dream in generalities not specifics.

Here’s the truth, if we don’t begin to set meaning goals, specific in nature, we will end up like I ended up: disillusioned, discouraged, disappointed, and in despair. The truth is, goals are the bridge between dreams and reality. You have to have goals. Maybe some of you believe God is not into goal setting. Well, you’re wrong. God is into goal setting. It is all through scripture. God isn’t against goal setting; He’s against setting goals that are not in His plans and not His purposes or priorities. In other words, setting goals and leaving God out of the picture - that is what God is not into. But not to worry, He has a safeguard against setting wrong goals.

An example is Jonah. God had a goal for Jonah to go preach to Nineveh. But Jonah had a different goal - and going to Nineveh was not it. To avoid God’s goal, he went so far as to get on a ship and ask to be thrown overboard (which the guys did; they threw him overboard). God had an answer for Jonah. It was the fish. So, they threw him overboard. And Jonah - he thought he was going to die, that would be the end of it, and he wouldn’t have to fight anymore with God. God said no, I have a plan for you and I am going to get you to do that plan even if you don’t want to. If you continue, I will make your life miserable, but you won’t die; you’re going to do it. So, what I am saying is, don’t worry about getting out of God’s will.

Let me give you some scripture, Psalm 25 “O Lord, I give my life to You, I trust in you my God, show me the right path. O Lord, point out the road for me to follow, lead me by your truth and teach me; You are the God who saves me; all day long I put my hope in You; Blessed are those who fear the Lord - He will show them the path they should choose. They will live in prosperity and their children will inherit the land.” You don’t want to die penniless, do you? You don’t want to die insignificant, do you? That is not a life of God, and that is not the life of a child of God. Psalm 37 “Trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live safely in the land and you will prosper. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit everything you do to Him; Trust Him and He will help you.” Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you.”

We are now getting into the goal setting part. Ask and it shall be given, Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open. It is perfectly fine to set goals and go after them with a passion, when we include God. There is no point in leaving God out because the future is in His hands anyway. You might as well recognize God in all that you do. Proverbs says, man makes his plans but God direct his steps. You can make all the plans you want and if God is not in it, and you’re one of His, He will direct you in the right place. He is not going to let you get too far off the path. Nehemiah had a goal; his goal was to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. He included God; he included the king, and he included all the people of God to help him. His goal was very specific: let’s build the wall now. How are you going to hit a goal you don’t have?

Most people go through their whole life without a goal. Unless you have a definite, precise, clearly set goal, you’re never going realize your maximum potential in this life. Goals are a bridge between dreams and reality. So what about it? Are your goals wandering generalities, or are they meaningful specifics? Clear and focused, you know what you want to do, or, are they still fuzzy? A man or a woman without a goal is like a ship without a rudder: drifting through life - drifting in the ocean. You’re going to end up shipwrecked on the beach of discouragement, disillusionment, disappointment, and defeat just like I did. Many people we know, maybe even ourselves, reap only a small portion of what life has to offer. We gain little. Wealth in every area of life – emotional, mental, physical, spiritual - lies within reach, but our tendency is to follow – blindly, without question - the crowd in a circle that leads nowhere. Most people believe with all their heart that they are on the road to success, but tragically, they are already guaranteeing their own failure. Why? Because they have no goals. They don’t know where they are going.

Do people actually plan to fail? No, they just fail to plan. They go through life doing what everyone else is doing. Only 3% in America actually commit their goals to paper. Many think they have goals, but here is a word for you: if they are not written down, they are just pipe dreams - because if you don’t write them down, then they will never be accomplished. Why don’t people set goals? There are real reasons why people don’t.

#1 – They’ve never been sold, they’ve been told but they’ve never been sold
#2 – They don’t know how to set goals
#3 – They fear they won’t reach the goals they set

Number 1, they’ve never been sold. Well that is easy to solve. Without goals, you will never do anything significant in life. Ever. I promise you, if you don’t have goals set - if you don’t have goals of some kind set in stone - written on paper - you’ll never do anything significant in life. If you’ve never been sold on goals, here is the close: if you don’t start setting goals today or tomorrow, you will go around in a circle doing the same thing you’ve always done, with the same results. It will never change; it will always be the same. That is how people come to insanity, doing the same things they’ve always done, but expecting different results. That’s crazy! But do you know that most of our society does that every single year? They make what we call New Year’s resolutions, but then don’t even remember what their resolution was a month or two later. Why? Because their goals are insignificant. Goals are the bridge between dreams and reality. That’s the bridge – the goal setting. If you don’t start making goals, next year you will be in the same place as you are now. Even if you do accomplish something, you’ll never know it because you haven’t set anything down on paper to be able to measure it by. I’ll discuss number 2 at the end of this writing.

Number 3 is fear. We don’t want to attempt something and fail. We don’t want to be embarrassed in front of our friends. If you set goals and tell people, then they will start measuring you. That’s scary because people can be cruel sometimes – that is why you share your deepest goals only with the people who love you, and will be with you, and want to see you succeed. People want to play it safe; they don’t set goals so they can never fail, right? No…wrong, playing it safe is a prescription for failure in this life! Using the “play it safe logic” - it is safer then for a plane to stay on the ground, for a ship to stay in the harbor, and a house to stay empty. But is that what they’re designed to do? No. Planes are designed to fly; ships are designed to sail; and houses are designed to be lived in.

Now, of course, there is risk involved. Every time a plane takes off, there is risk involved; every time a ship leaves the harbor, there is a risk; every time someone moves into a house, there is a risk involved. But here is the key: the alternative is much worse. It is a proven fact that a plane that sits on the ground rusts faster, a ship that sits in the harbor collects barnacles and becomes un-seaworthy quick, and a house that remains empty deteriorates fast. Setting goals is risky, but the greater danger is when we don’t, when we do nothing. Because planes are made to fly, ships are made to sail, and houses are made to live in, and man is made for a purpose. Man is made to succeed.

A blueprint on how to succeed is Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night [why?]. To do according to all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have good success.” But do most people that you know meditate in the word day and night? No, and that is why they are always where they are. They are thinking about the wrong thing. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom and the righteousness of God and all these things will be added to you. Anything you set your mind to you can do because He will be with you. Here is another blueprint, Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly or stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful”. Blessed is the guy who does not fellowship with people who mock God. You fellowship on a regular basis with people who mock God, and you yourself will mock Him and you’ll mock the people of God; which will cut your legs out from underneath you because God is listening. Would you like to prosper this year? There is a blueprint for it in your Bible; it is so simple, but do you take advantage of it? J.C. Penney said, “Give me a man without a goal and I’ll give you a stock clerk. Give me a stock clerk that has a goal and I’ll give you a history maker”. Who should have goals? Everyone! You! You need a blueprint; you don’t build a house without a plan. You have to have a goal, keeping God first in our lives, seeking first the kingdom then asking God for whatever it is we desire in life. He wants to give you the desires of your heart, He wants you to succeed.

Ok, let’s talk about number 2: How to set goals.

First of all, what kind of goals should you set? Well, you should set spiritual goals, family goals, physical goals, mental goals, emotional goals, career goals, financial goals, social goals, personal growth goals, all kinds of different goals. Just start with something, anywhere, anyplace. How do you want to be at the end of this year? Goals should be big enough to get you excited. There is no excitement in mediocrity. If a goal is big enough, it is too big for you, but not for you and God. Goals cause you to cross the bridge from dreams to reality. How you see yourself in relationship with God makes all the difference in the world. There will always be obstacles to your goals; they are there to see how much character you have and to prove if you really want the goal. For every adversity there is a seed of equal or greater benefit if you look for it with the eyes of God. Booker T. Washington said, “You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.” Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. All you have is today. Jesus said to learn to work in today. Develop yourself and please the Lord and work in the kingdom today. You only have today; there is no guarantee for tomorrow. Look at yesterday and learn – adjust your actions and learn from it. Do differently today. Daily goals builds character, takes dedication, determination, and discipline.

Goals must be specific. “Lots of money”, “more education”, “better marriage”, etc. is general, not specific. You must write down specifically, exactly, what you want. Get a notebook and on the first page, write the heading: Spiritual Goals. Then write what you feel God wants you to do this year. How are you going to reconnect and draw closer to Him? How do you recognize God’s purpose, plan, and priorities? Commit, attend church every time it is open; pray every single day; open your bible and pray His word over your life, your family; Memorize one scripture a month; if you do that, you will learn 12 more this year. If you want prosperity, that is what the bible says you should do – learn His word. Read a spiritual book; serve in the body.

On the second page, write the heading: Family Goals. Consider, how do I get my family in order? How will I attempt to bring my family closer to God and to each other? Play games, go places together, read the Bible together, and be together as a family.

Third page, write: Individual Goals. Change your attitudes. We’re quick to complain, so learn to start your conversations being positive, talk about what God can do, speak life. We must get past disappointments, disillusionments, get over anger, resentment, bitterness; if not, you’ll be in the same place next year. God can’t take you anywhere until you get over those negative thoughts, they’re poisonous. Another goal could be to get in shape, physically, mentally – be specific what do you want?

On the fourth page, write: Business. List what is important to you. If you don’t take the time to write your goals out, you’ll be in the same spot next year.

But, if you do nothing else, at least do the following two: The fifth page should be titled: Things to Have. List everything you want and keep it by you so you can add to it. You want a new car? Put it on the list, but be specific, dream big, and pray over it. But it must be written down!

Finally, the sixth page: Things to Do. What would you love to do? Climb Mount Everest? Go to Japan? Write a book? Write it down and be specific! If you set goals, you will be much farther ahead next year than where you would’ve been if you hadn’t. Key to it all is, it must be written down!

If you ask God, He will give you the desires of your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding; but in all of your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps. Do good, dwell in the land, dwell in His faithfulness, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Goals are the bridge between dreams and reality!
 
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