Robert Browning an English Poet and playwright penned these words in 1855, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.” What are you reaching for? If you have no goals, you have no reach. Candidly, not enough is said or written about goal setting. Plan “A” has always got to be, ‘Set the Goal’. There is no doubt, if you have no goals, there will be no growth, movement, or direction in your life. God wants you to have a ‘bullseye’ type goal. He wants you to be specific in goal setting and in your requests to him, so the mark is clear, and it can be strived for with precision. We must get out of the gray areas, stop being fuzzy, unclear, and doubleminded, and focus on something that is defined and absolute in our lives and in the Kingdom of God. If we do not, we will be labeled, what the bible calls, a ‘wandering star’. Jude 1:13 states, “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Just to clarify, this is not a compliment. James 1:8 says it this way, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Let me tell you a little story about “A Hero and His Goals”, “A curly headed young man, 18 years of age from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, received horrendous news one day; “Sir, you have cancer. You have a 50% chance of living.” Ultimately, Terry’s leg would be amputated, and he did pass away. However, this is not the end of the story. Against all odds or logic, he had set a goal. From his hospital bed, he determined to run across the nation of Canada, 3000 miles, with his one remaining leg, along with an artificial leg, to raise money for cancer research. He collapsed outside the city of Thunder Bay about 2/3 through his journey, however, that was two decades after his initial diagnosis and treatment.” Two hundred million dollars has been raised worldwide for cancer research, and over one million participants run annually at 5,000 sites in 55 countries around the world to continue raising more. The “Terry Fox Run” has increased not only the odds of surviving many types of cancer, but the quality of life one with cancer can still enjoy. He has become a true Canadian Hero. Through determination and a specific goal, he has become a life saver which reaches around the world. This is a powerful testimony of a goal setter.
One might wonder how to set goals to indeed extend your reach in life as Terry Fox did. Firstly, a goal setting life, boils down to ‘planned living.’ A man without a goal, is like a ship without a rudder, and they will both drift aimlessly. Each will end up on the beaches of despair, defeat, and despondency. All the while wondering how they got there. Paul states in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He is intentional about gaining the prize. In 1 Timothy 6:12 &19, Paul admonishes Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” There must be intention, a goal, followed by planning, and ultimately the execution thereof, in order to attain what we want in life. Living ‘willy nilly’, ‘haphazardly’, or ‘flying by the seat of the pants’, never achieved anything.
Jean-Henri Fabre, a French Naturalist, Entomologist, teacher, chemist, physicist, and botanist, thought that other’s teaching and writing were very boring. He states, “My passion is for scientific truth, others again have reproached me with my style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, the dryness of the schools. They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth. Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure.” He was hands on with his research and had fun with it. He conducted an experiment with processionary caterpillars who are known to blindly follow one another. He put them in line around a flowerpot, one touching the other, with pine needles inside the flowerpot. For seven days and nights, they followed each other until they died of starvation, hunger, and frustration though food was so close. Having no plan can literally, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually contribute to our demise.
A goal is the end to which a plan takes you, if you have none, you’ll be a wanderer. Most people don’t do much with their lives because they don’t have a plan. In turn, churches won’t grow either without a plan. A goal and a plan go hand in hand and are worthless without each other. It has been said, “The trouble with planning nothing is, you don’t know when your through.” Oh, my, this makes me chuckle, but such a true statement. Allow me to give you an illustration. Statistically, 50% of all doctors choose to be doctors before the age of twelve. Twelve years old, with a plan, equals medical doctor. We are not sure where the other twelve year olds are, who did not have a plan, hopefully there are some lawyers or nurses or electricians, you name it, but we do know the one’s without a plan are the ones who have not left their couches in quite a while. As wonderful as sitting on the couch may sound to those of you who are tired and weary, there is no fulfillment in it, and leads to mediocrity and poverty.
Secondly, when goal setting, you must begin focusing on your objectives. What are you aiming for, and what are you hoping to achieve? As Paul said, he had the ‘prize of the high calling’ in his line of vision. For Elisha, it was a ‘double portion’ as we see in 2 Kings 2:9, “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” For Blind Bartimaeus it was his ‘sight’. Mark 10:51 tells us, “And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.” For Jacob it was a ‘blessing.’ In Genesis 32:24-26, he had an encounter with the Lord, “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” For Caleb it was the ‘mountain.’ Joshua 14:12-14 gives us the account of Caleb, “Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spoke in that day; for thou heard in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.” We see in these examples, that they were very specific in what they wanted and in their requests to God for it.
Goals we may have could be, that our homes would be a haven of peace, as spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 3:16, “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.” It could be that our tongues would be harnessed by the power of the Holy Ghost, as seen in James 3:2, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” It might be that our lives would be filled with praise in our homes, workplace, while traveling in our cars, etc., as we read in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It might be that we want to get rid of chaos and bring order and schedule at our jobs, as told in 1 Timothy 5:8, because we know we must work, “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” It may be that we want to begin to be more disciplined in our finances, creating a budget and plan of spending, so as to be able to afford the things we need in life and not wonder how everyone else is prospering and we are not, as we see in Luke 12:15 “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” These mentioned are things that could fit all of us in general, however, think on these and add to this list the specific goals that you may have personally.
These are just the tip of the iceberg of what you can achieve as a goal setter. If you could talk to someone who has scaled Mount Everest and ask them how they got there, what do you think they might say? “I was just out walking around, whistling a tune and minding my own business and found myself on the top of one of the highest mountains in the world.” No, more probably, their answer would sound more like, “I had this dream and this goal from an early age. I began to think and plan on how I could achieve it. It took a while, but I was finally able to execute it.”
Thirdly, goal setting should involve writing your goals down. Statistically, only 3% of North Americans commit their goals to paper. When you do, it shows there is a commitment, and a definite intention to achieve something. How can you hit that which you cannot see? To illustrate this point, let us look at Howard Hill, probably one of the greatest archers of our time. So accurate was he, that he could hit the target’s ‘Bullseye’ and then literally split the first arrow with the second. How many bullseyes could Howard Hill hit if you blindfolded him? It stands to reason that the answer is a resounding, ‘none’, because he would not be able to see the target. Even if he gave it his best effort, the target also has the potential to be moved without him knowing it if he is blindfolded, therefore, he would not be able to readjust his sights and hit his mark. Writing your goals down allow them to be ‘set in stone’ so to speak, rather than just a passing wish or thought. This does not mean your target will not move, but it allows focus and clarity, in order to plan and prioritize your life moving forward so that the goal can be reached. Yes, the target always has the potential to be moved, because of life’s unpredictability, however, if you have the goal written down, then the only thing that may need to change would be the plan of how to get there, and not the goal itself of where you are going. Realistically speaking, roadblocks can be put in our way, but your ‘Mount Everest’ is still there, you can just take a different path to get there.
Fourthly, a goal setter must throw away the no risk approach. Peter shows us how this is done, when he put one foot, then another, over the side of the boat, left the rest of his comrades behind, and began to walk on the water. You may ask, but what if I don’t hit my goals? That is a no risk approach. It’s a deadly and dangerous approach if you are going to maximize your life for God. Yes, there will be difficulties in setting lofty goals, however, it is far more rewarding than to not set goals and accomplish nothing. Man was created with a purpose and all of us are here for a reason. We must find our purpose and aim for it, shoot at it and plan to hit the bullseye. Is a ship safer in the harbor? Is a plane safer on the ground? Is a house more durable when empty? Though at first glance these may seem true, however, these are false. A ship will collect barnacles and become unseaworthy. A plane will rust and become eventually useless, and a house will deteriorate much faster when it is empty than when it is in use. Each must be used for the purpose for which they were made.
Fifthly, in goal setting, you must harness your power. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9:26, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air.” Over the 180 foot drop at Niagara Falls, over the years, flowed literally trillions of tons of water, uncontrolled, unchecked, and unharnessed, until one day a goal and plan unfolded. The water was harnessed, and the power used to create something that could be used for our advantage. With the first effort being in 1750 by Daniel Joncaire, to the massive generating station in 1905, billions of kilowatt hours of electricity were harvested. City lights were powered, the wheels of industry began to turn and assembly lines began to produce products, all because of the controlling and harnessing of water. This is exactly what God wants us to do with our lives. Find the resources you have to offer, harness your power, and begin to bless your generation.
Lastly, goal setting should affect all areas of our lives, spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, financial. Our relationships, jobs, hobbies, and families, etc., should reap benefits from our goal setting. Set goals in each of these categories so that your whole world can be affected and effective. Remember, the trouble with doing nothing is that you don’t know when you’re through. As you set goals in each of these areas, here are some hints and tips to help you get started on your journey. Divide your goals into smaller sections. Prioritize each piece of the puzzle. Keep the written list of goals where you can see them often and write down things you have done towards accomplishing the goals each step of the way. Make a list of what you’re willing to ‘give up’ to attain your goals. Give yourself room and space to make a few learning mistakes along the way. There is often a learning curve. Sydney Howard an American playwright, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1925 for Drama, and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for his renown screenplay, ‘Gone with the Wind’, once said, “Half of knowing what you want, is knowing what you have to ‘give up’ to get it.” As Christians, we must keep in mind these decisions are best accomplished when accompanied by prayer.
2 Kings 13:13-25 tells the story of a king, “And Joash the king of Israel came down unto Elisha, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.” Three times did Joash beat him and recovered the cities of Israel.” The king had sold himself short because of fear and lack of vision.
In conclusion, being deeply moved by the Terry Fox story, let me close this lesson on goal setting, by quoting from the young man himself. He was cut off before finishing his run, but he certainly reached his desired goal, step by step. These are his own words, “I loved it. People thought I was going through hell and maybe I was, partly, but still I was doing what I wanted. There was not another thing in the world I would rather have been doing.” There you have it, if you shoot for nothing, that is exactly what you will get. Therefore, I challenge each one to decide what you want, set a goal, make a plan, and extend your reach in life more than you ever have before. In so doing, you will not be a wondering star, or a doubleminded man, tossed to and fro, but you will have direction and purpose. You may not make it all the way, and you may die trying, but like Terry Fox, you will be doing exactly what you want to be doing. Proverbs 29:18 tells us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.” Romans 12:2 tells us, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Today is the day to decide what it is that you really want, set your goals, extend your reach, be happy and find that ‘perfect will of God’ for your life.