It seems to me that God must have goals, after all, the Bible says that He has a plan and having a plan implies having goals to implement that plan. Beyond the larger plan that God has for all of creation as well as humanity in general, one of the cornerstones of Christian belief and life has always been that God has a plan for us individually. We are not just some nondescript cog lost in the larger machine of creation, forgotten while God deals with more important things. We matter individually.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:21)
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Jeremiah is a good example of someone who had God’s plan for him laid out for him in detail. God had specific goals for Jeremiah; he was to be a prophet to the nations, not just to Israel, but to the Gentiles also. Later, in the New Testament period, didn’t Jesus explain his specific goal for Paul’s life when he called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles?
This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Acts: 9:15-16
The thing is, we are all part of God’s larger plan and His plan for us individually synchronizes perfectly with His plan for all humanity. Well then, that begs the question. What do you think is God’s goal for your life? When is the last time you thought about that goal or evaluated what you might need to do to meet it?
I think about God’s goal for my life all the time. Sometimes I wish I was like Jeremiah or Paul, to be fortunate enough to have what God wanted spelled out so clearly to me that there was no mistaking what it was. Other times I shrink back from that desire, fearing the demands such clarity would obviously bring. Recently I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to become an effective writer and use that ability to further the Christian witness. It is the reason I started this blog. It is also why I have tried to discipline myself to write something every day, even when my brain feels like mush and the words are hidden in dark corners forcing me to have to look for almost every one of them. I feel like that today. There was a house fire across the street last night around midnight and we didn’t get a lot of sleep due to the fire engines that filled up our small street.
So, not to be too repetitive, but what is God’s goal for your life? What are you doing about it? How long do you think He will wait for you to get moving? Significant questions all, but they all need addressing. Grace and peace to your day.
