Big Goals!

Looking forward planning for the next year or so, setting your sights on lofty goals, I want you to take moment and reflect on your goals. Are your goals big enough?

You may be thinking yes, they are impossible ,I will not be able to do it! My question that was a bad question, maybe a better one is, does your goal focus on yourself or others (maybe even the whole world)?

If your dreams only include you they are too small. Your lofty goal of losing x lbs, reading the bible, saving x dollars, buying a house, going back to school, or getting a new career. Is not big enough! It is still focused on you. God has a greater story for your life, one that is woven together with others. Your life is about so much more than accumulating things, looking good, or making a name for yourself. It is about making a name for God, bringing justice, comforting those mourning, helping the poor, being merciful, peacemakers, and being persecuted for doing the right things (Matthew 5:3-12). It is about joining God as He renews the earth. Working toward a goal outside of yourself. Also side note: you will not fail, since you are joinign teams with God and what He says will come to pass. He will never give up on the earth or humanity.  He made a covenant with His creation to restore it and He wants you to join.

You want dreams and goals that extend yourself outside of yourself. Glorifying God not just for your individual story, but for other people. In our sinful nature, it is really easy for us to turn inward focusing on ourselves, but to breaking the cycle reaches other people and brings renewal!  This can still be a dicey area as it can be easy to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Trying to find a cure for cancer to make a name for yourself and get rich,  be a head pastor of a megachurch to be significant and loved, go on a missions trip to have a good story and feel less guilty. The list goes on, our sinful hearts can be crafty and but on a disguise for making something seem like it is for others or God, while really it is to make us feel loved, rich, powerful and/or significant.

Your dream or goal does not have to be spiritual in nature. It has no limits. It will be a unique story to bring renewal to the earth.

It could be changing your diet for the environment or getting better at cleaning.

It could be about designing an awesome product or App to make the world a better place

It could be starting a community garden.

It could be being a great, honest sales person.

It could be starting an awesome Etsy shop.

It could be making healthier snacks for friends or a grocery store.

It could be hosting a community group.

It could be volunteering at your church.

It could be restoring old furniture.

It could be being a great plumber.

It could be being a doctor that listens to your patient with compassion.

It could be by being an honest, hardworking construction worker (or fill in your job here)

It could be raising up children, and shaping the future leaders.

It could be starting a non-profit.

It could be being a “Barnabas” (being a great encourager to those around you)

it could be by being a mentor.

it could be having a free library outside your house.

It could be by making your neighborhood get to know each other.

It could be about coaching a youth sports team.

It could be about teaching classes to prisoners.

The possibilities are endless, but I can tell you what God designed you for all I know is that He wants you to have a big goal and join Him n the renewal of  earth.  That big goal can only be accomplished in community and with God. In America we are so independent that we have a tendency to forget how important community is for us to achieve our goals. There is something special that happens when you are in community working towards a goal. It can help keep you in check and on task even if each person has a different outworking of the goal to renew the earth. As you begin to pray and think, take a step back and question your motives, who benefits the most, and who gets the recognition. We need to change how we think about our goals by changing our mindset while creating figuring out a bigger, grander goal to accomplish by God’s grace, and power.

<3 Jessica

Closing questions to ask yourself:
Is your goal something you can do on your own?

Is you goal focused on yourself?

No… you might be on to something!