by Janine Mick Wills
Are you keeping your New Year’s resolutions? I’d venture to say by this time, you’re not even thinking about them. Don’t worry. By the second week in January, most people have laid them aside, let alone by the first week in March.
But today, I’m going to share with you how God is the ultimate goal setter, and how if you emulate Him, you can get those New Year’s resolutions right back on track! (If you’ve not yet read “Are You Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions? (Part 1),” I suggest you stop and read it first.)
Again, I’m exercising my spiritual imagination here, but the Bible shows many examples of God as a planner and a goal setter. His greatest achievement was Creation. Before there was time and space, God had a plan, and He executed it perfectly step-by-step. Here are some lessons we can learn through His example.
Lesson #1 – Don’t let the unknown keep you from starting.
In “Are You Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions? (Part 1),” I discussed that before Creation, God planned to send His Son to die for the sins of the world (1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you). The first step of God’s plan was to provide a Savior for a world He hadn’t even created yet!
Sometimes, we won’t be able to see the forest for the trees or even see the forest. But that’s no excuse for us to quit. We must start, keep on going, and believe we’ll achieve our goals. Before we know it, we’ll have accomplished them.
Lesson #2 – Put shoes on your goal setting feet!
On the first day of Creation, God didn’t stand around. He did something. He said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). He didn’t spend eternity thinking about light, He just went out and created it.
It’s fun to sit around and think about our goals, but we also need do to get up and start working toward them. That means today. Maybe even right now!
Lesson #3 – There’s always a way around problems or obstacles.
On the second day of Creation, God looked out and saw water, water everywhere. This could have been a problem since He planned to create man with legs to walk instead of fins to swim. But God spoke and “a firmament in the midst of the waters” appeared (Genesis 1:6). What initially seemed a setback, worked out perfectly.
Let’s face it. Things don’t always go like we want. It’s called life. The dog throws up on the carpet five minutes before company comes, the class we wanted to attend is full, our best friend or husband shoots down our plans, etc. etc.
But we shouldn’t despair. First, we need to take a few deep breaths. This not only changes our physiology, but it also changes our gears. Then, we need to consider a different direction or way that could bring even greater results. Whatever we do, we should NEVER give up!
Lesson #4 – Do all things decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).
Though all of Creation was done in a decent and orderly fashion, Day 3 is a highlight. God brought forth land before He created “grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind” (Genesis 1:11).
“Now, wait a minute,” you might say. “God didn’t create the sun until Day 4? Plants need the sun to grow.”
Oh, but don’t forget on Day 1, God created light. Plants need light to grow, not necessarily the sun. God knew this, so He planned accordingly.
Nothing took Him by surprise. Not once did He say, “Whoops! I should have thought about that first!” (On the contrary, He continually said, “It was good.”)
Our goals will not happen just because we want them to. There is a planning process. I don’t like that part: the sitting down with paper and pen and writing down my goals and the steps needed to accomplish them. I’d much rather wake up the next day and just start doing something.
But we need a game plan. A place from which to start, a place to go, and how we’ll get there. We’ll go much farther down the goal setting road with a map (OK, all you techies. Use your iPhone!). Even if we veer off the path now and again, we must keep coming back to our map, recalculate if necessary, and then continue on our way.
Lesson #5 – There is a time and a season for all things.
There is a great order on Day 4 of Creation. God created the sun, moon, and stars, which created time. (Genesis 1:14 …to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years). Time was God’s gift to man. God didn’t need it. He’s eternal!
But time does have its drawbacks. There never seems to be enough of it for one thing. Another problem is we can’t always do what we want to because it’s not the right time. This is especially hard for someone like me, who wants everything done yesterday!
So, that means, we may need to postpone or modify some or all of our goals. According to Ecclesiastes 1:1-9, everything has a time and purpose. We might have goals we need to change or put off altogether until the children are grown, we finish college, or whatever is of greater importance right now. These in themselves become our goals.
I started Cassandra and the Cowboy twenty years ago. In those twenty years, I could only work on it off and on as I raised a family, went to Bible college, and helped my husband in the ministry. But I never gave up, and I’m about to see the fruit of my reward! (The book is due for release April 2019.)
Lesson #6 – Execute your plans, step-by-step.
On Day 5 of Creation, God made the fowls of the air and the sea creatures. Their creation was the next step in His plan. He didn’t form man from the dust of the earth until He completed Days 1-4.
When we write down our goals and the steps we need to reach them, it may appear daunting. Where should we start? When will we find the time to do them? Wonder if we fail? So what should we do? Take them one bite at a time!
First, we need to prioritize our steps. Then we need to start doing step #1 (Even if we’d rather do #3 and #4). We may not get it finished that day or the next, but we’ll have the satisfaction of knowing the most important thing is either done or on its way to being done. Then we need to move on to #2, and so on, and so on. The order we do these things may change as we institute our plan, so we must be flexible and go with the flow.
As we mark off each step, we’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. This, in turn, will bolster our resolve to keep going. Before we know it, we’ll be crossing off that last step and saying, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. We did it, Lord!”
Lesson #7 – Allow the progression of goals to excite and motivate you.
Day 6 is my favorite day of Creation because, on this day, God created the animals and man (But He wasn’t completely pleased until He created woman!).
I can almost see God’s excitement build with each day of Creation. He knew on Day 6 He would create Man. Someone who could willing love and worship Him. And for a time, Man walked and talked with God in the Garden.
God desired man’s fellowship! And the great news is, He still does! We can’t talk to Him face-to-face like Adam and Eve did, but He speaks to us through His Word, and we can talk to Him through prayer.
We need to wake up each morning, excited about our goals and how God is going to help us accomplish them (Proverbs 13:19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…). Otherwise, life would have no purpose and certainly not be any fun!
Lesson #8 – Rest now and then from your goal setting
We all know God doesn’t need to rest, right? But He gave us Day #7 as a reminder that we need to. Goal setting and achieving goals can be hard work. We need to balance it with times of rest and recreation.
When our goals become all-consuming, if all we think about and do is them, they become a god. And we certainly don’t want that. Especially when we want our goals to honor our Lord in the first place!
The Bible says in Philippians 4:5 to “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” This means that people can tell when we are living a balanced life. We shouldn’t do one thing to the exclusion of another. This keeps stress and worry at bay and allows us to accomplish what is necessary to fulfill our God-given life and purpose.
This is a toughie for me. I am the poster girl for “Go get ’em right now.” But I try to work on being moderate and making sure I work on all my goals, not just one of them.
So, there you have it. Eight lessons you can learn from God, the ultimate goal setter. Try them, and before you know it, you won’t be asking if you are keeping your New Year’s resolutions, you’ll be breezin’ right through them!
