New Year, New Goals

I love New Year’s. It feels refreshing, like taking a deep breath in cold, crisp air.

I love the new start. A reason to evaluate where you are, where you are headed and how you are going to get there.

We set goals, dream dreams, have an excuse to stop at the end of a busy holiday season and pay attention to how the year has gone and the changes we want to make for the future.

 I love taking this opportunity to look back and look forward, really think about where I want to be at the end of next year, what I hope to have accomplished, the goals I want to reach.

I love the anticipation of a chapter of life not yet unfolded.

So naturally as one year ends and another begins, I buy a new planner and I start jotting down my goals and make a list. I start asking myself all of the questions.

Where am I? Where do I want to be?

Where have I messed up recently? What goals did I have last year that I didn’t accomplish?

How can I be better?

My husband is a pastor and we lead our church together. We were recently talking about our goals for church. The things we accomplished last year, where we want to be this year.

Looking back, there was so much good. The faithfulness of God shining through, stories of impact, growth and life changing experiences through our church.

And there were so many mistakes. So much regret. Things we wish we’d done differently, said differently, handled differently.

But also, so much hope for this new year.

We started to make a list together.

• Personal goals.

• Church goals.

• Family goals.

We talked about how we need to lead better at church in this area and train better in that area.

How we need to start a program here and do more outreach there.

 How we need to spend more time with our kids, who are growing so quickly and how we need to take better care of ourselves. Rest more, work harder, solve the problems, reach the goals, do all the things.

And the more we planned, the more that feeling started growing in the pit of my stomach.

 You know the feeling. The aching, gnawing feeling that is the overwhelm of imperfection.

That feeling that there’s no way you can measure up to this. There’s no way you can accomplish it. That feeling that makes you irrational. “Well maybe if I stay up later and wake up earlier, I will be able to get a couple extra hours of work in every day this year and I will be able to get more accomplished.”

 Yeah, like that’s the answer. Let’s not sleep and then wonder why our health suffers and we are stressed out and cranky all the time.

 Or another irrational thought - I will eat nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables! Like Daniel. He was holy. He did it. I can do this. And then the first time you go out and there’s not a fruit or vegetable in sight, you just give up and order all of the fried food. You tried, right?

So in the middle of the overwhelm, I stopped myself and gave me a little pep talk. “Stop it. Get control. If you just work harder, stop being distracted, you can get it all done. You can do it! If you just get yourself together and push harder, go faster, be more intentional, you can make it happen!”

It sounds so good. Plus, the goals I have aren’t bad goals, they are good goals.

Lose the weight.

Read more.

Work harder.

Lead better.

Bring more people to Jesus.

Write the book.

Drink the water.

Spend more time with God.

After my little internal pep talk, I felt better. I felt more in control. I can do this. I believed it.

 I had to do it. For God.

One of my biggest fears is getting to the end of my life and not accomplishing the things God had for me to accomplish.

So in my mind, I have to be better. If I work harder, then God will be pleased with me and my hard work. Then He will use me. Then I will have accomplished what I am supposed to accomplish.

Then I will be worthy.

Whoa. Wait. That thought stopped me in my tracks.

Why is it so deeply rooted in us that our accomplishments are what makes us worthy? That God won’t and cannot use us until we have “arrived” at some imaginary land of success?

 If this sounds like you, if these thoughts sound like your thoughts, let me be clear.

That idea – that success makes us worth something – is a lie.

Jesus is the only One that can make us worthy.

As I was considering all of this, a couple of verses from the book of Matthew popped into my head.

 Matthew 6:33 - “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. Then all of these things will be added unto you.

 Matthew 6:34 - Don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own.”

I realized that I know both of those verses. But I usually see them separately, even though they are right next to each other.

 We read devotionals about worry and we see that we should not worry. But how can we not worry, when there are just so many things to worry about?

 We read about how we should seek after God because it is what good Christians do.

But when you put them together, read them as one thought, it shines a different light on these truths.

”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“

Matthew 6:33-34 NKJV

Seek God first.

All the things will be added..

Stop worrying about tomorrow.

Today is enough to worry about.

 All of the goals, all of the accomplishments, all of the success. These are the things that will be added to you. But only when you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. And when you seek God first, not only will all of these things be added unto you, but then you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. God will take care of tomorrow when tomorrow comes. It is a progression, an explanation of what happens when you seek after God, focus your mind and your heart and your life on His kingdom and His righteousness.

As my husband and I were discussing our goals, we came to this conclusion.

We can’t do it.

We had had this same conversation 1000 times before in our lives. Be better. Accomplish more. You messed up. Fix the things. This will be what honors God.

 We tried so many times. Over and over again, we’d pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and try harder.

And we’d succeed. At most of the things. And we’d fail. At a lot of the things. And we’d get discouraged.

So then we’d have the conversation again.

 Pull it together. Get back on track. Do better.

Set the goals.

Accomplish them.

And each time, we thought we were doing the right thing.

And each time, good things would happen. But we’d also fail, and the doubt and the fear would pile up, one thing on top of another.

 And the lies would whisper in my mind that I really don’t have what it takes.

Then, as I read those verses in Matthew, it all became clear.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Seek Him. Period.

 That’s where it ends.

As I looked over my list, I realized something profound. Seeking God, spending time with Him, was just one of the items on my list, when not only should it be at the top of my list, it should be the ONLY item on my list.

 I told my husband I was going to take my sheet of goals and crumple it up, throw it in the garbage and start over.

Goal #1: Seek God.

The rest of the paper - blank.

That’s it. Nothing else.

If I get that one goal down, everything else will fall into place.

Will it be perfect? No, definitely not. Will I pay attention to what God is saying every time? HA! I wish.

But will it all turn out for my good? YES, 1000 times yes. I can count on that because I can count on God’s word and that is what God’s word says. (Romans 8:28)

Seek God. Period.  

If I seek God, His kingdom, His righteousness first, then I don’t have to worry about tomorrow.

God promises in His word that He wants us to live better lives here on earth and in heaven with Him forever than we could ever imagine.

 So, if I seek Him every day. If I listen for His voice, let Him lead me, guide me and show me where my attention needs to be directed that day, then God has made me some guarantees.

A lot of guarantees, actually.

He guarantees the future that I long for. (Jeremiah 29:13)

He guarantees He will provide everything I need, out of His riches and glory.  (Not my own.) (Philippians 4:19)

He guarantees a life lived from a place of rest. (Matthew 11:28-30)

He guarantees He will never leave me or forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5)

He guarantees that He takes care of the sparrows in the air and the lilies in the field, so how much more would He care for me, His child? (Luke 12:22-32)

He guarantees that He will strengthen me and help me. (Isaiah 41:10)

He guarantees that He is a good Father who gives good gifts. (Matthew 7:11)

He guarantees that all things will work together for my good. (Romans 8:28)

And so much more.

As I let that thought sink in, thinking about what it would be like to seek God and have that be my goal – the only goal - freedom washed over me. Relief washed over me. The overwhelm disappeared.

When we seek God, we can stop striving to have it all figured out.

When we seek God, we can stop trying to make things happen.

When we seek God, we can know that whatever He has called us to do in our lives, big and small, He has promised to be with us in it and He has promised to provide for it, everything we need to accomplish it.

You can count on it.

When we seek God, we can take all our worry, all our anxiety and we can lay it at His feet. We can give it to Him and walk away free, walk away lighter, unburdened.

Dear friend, tomorrow has enough troubles of its own. Let today be enough. Ask God what He wants for you today. Ask God to provide for those steps today. Ask God to help you to hear His voice clearly for today. Lay your plans at His feet for today.

Tomorrow we can deal with tomorrow.

Go ahead, make your plans. Set your goals. But let the one at the top of the list be to seek God, His kingdom, His righteousness, for today.

Then you will look back and you will see that all of these things were added unto you. You will look back after a week, a month, a year and you will see that His word was true. He was faithful. He gave you what you needed each day. He led you faithfully each day.

Want to know how to make seeking God, His kingdom & His righteousness a reality in your life?

Here’s a simple prayer for you to start your morning with:

 Father, I come before You and I give my life to You. I want to seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness first today. Show me how to do that. Help me to hear Your voice today, guiding me and directing me. Father, I ask You to show me any area of my life that is not completely surrendered to You. I give You the control over my life, I want to be led by You. Show me Your thoughts, Your ways, Your definition of a successful life. Help me to obedient to You, saying Yes to whatever You ask of me. I love You. My life is Yours. Amen.

Start your morning turning your eyes toward God and laying your life down, giving it all to Him. Then be ready to say yes to whatever He has for you to do, whatever comes your way.  If you do this, in exchange, He will give to you everything you need.

A full, satisfied, abundant life is waiting for you. Go get it.