Mentor
SETTING AND ACHIEVING GOALS IN LIFE
Pastor Jude Okwubune
Let us this time consider the setting of goals and pursuing of goals to achieve them, dreams remain dreams but goals are strategies that put dreams on the path of reality. Rev. Martin Luther King had the boldness to declare his dream in the state sponsored racially divided and highly prejudiced society of 1960s U. S. A, which was masquerading as the leader of the “free world”:
“ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.
Then he set himself the goal of energizing and mobilizing people of noble heart, black and white alike, to peacefully protest and insist on equality of mankind and warn on the dangers of the wickedness of such state sponsored racism. By the mid 1970s the state caved in and in 2008 U.S. A, a nation of 13% blacks voted a Blackman to be their president; not judging “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
USA, a country whose constitution originally defined the black man as being only three-fifths of a person, that is, only 60% semblance to a human being –an ape if you like.
Remember that King is a pastor, he could “preach it under the anointing” and bind the devil all he wants within the confines of his church, or he could just drift off to drinking with NBA (National Beer Association) members, day dreaming and collecting the latest fashion, lottery winners or car news while swearing at the “wicked white men,” “after all, why should God allow all that injustice?” –he could say.
But King could see that all the people of God from Joseph to Moses, Ben-Gurion to Mother Theresa have always moved from idle dreams like all men, to goals like normal men, and to pursuing goals with trust and commitment to God like all faithful believers. King prayed a lot about his dreams and the challenging goal, King heard God and acted:
“I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo I will be with you, even until the end of the world.’ ”(Time. April 13,1998)
God is with you in your dreams and goals that is HIS promise. For King the challenge was enormous and the opposition, daunting. King made the supreme sacrifice, but not death could derail his plan because death could not derail the plan of his, Master Jesus, nor can any force derail your destiny if you have a goal to pursue. Rev. King’s children are alive today living the reality of their father’s dreams and desire, so is the rest of us, black, white, red or yellow.
I have to go to all this detail to make every one of us understand that commitment to God brings monumental, sure results and not quick, easy temporary results. The people of this world lie, deceive, and are determined to kill in order to treacherously achieve their dreams. Some unsuspecting believers on the other hand in the bid for quick, easy success go from one false prophet to “anointed man”, “one seer” to another “interpreter” of dreams searching for that “promised” anointing that could just make them quickly achieve their dreams at all cost with little or no commitment to God and hard work.
After sometime, and in frustration, these believers condescend to the trap: methods and systems of the world around them, lying, deceit, treachery and even to murderous slander and attacks; often finding solace in their diviners who gleefully announce their “success” as coming from God without adding, “from the god of this world.” That god (satan and his agents) is quick to ensnare these poor souls in his success of wickedness, leaving only dust, disgrace and disappointment behind him.
Faithful believers on the other hand, with patience and prayer move beyond dreams to the setting goals, which transmit their dreams into achievements, now Goals are not dreams, visions or wishes.
Dreams and visions are to some extent from God; but goals are from the individual and are initiated by man:
I want my own business, a new job, and a tall promotion –what goals do you set to move from dreams to your wishes?
Setting goals in life has led many to discover that any dream / vision we have is rooted in our belief system and value. As Christians, we value the word of God and the Body of Christ, His people.
This foundation of our values / beliefs is that on which our dreams are set; there you set your goals based on your dreams and make plans to get your goals met. As Christians, our goals are prayerfully set with the understanding that where God gives a vision, He makes provision, providing help, encouragement and favour even in the face of severe opposition, dire needs and persecution. Goals should be important to you because the Giver of dreams does not give dreams only for your benefit, but to benefit you and mostly bless others.
That’s right, that is why your dream seems impossible now, God has planned great things for you and for others but by patience and humility, you will be a great blessing. There are many people waiting for you on the other side, the side of success to be blessed; that is why you need to go through the humbling process of networking with others who will help you with advice, support and even discipline.
So stand firm and put your goals to paper, goals must be written down (Habakkuk 2:2), and then you can run with it, having started something out of a dream, you have the confidence for the next step of accountability. Goals must be submitted to the accountability of at the least someone or group for guidance, input and focus; your Giver of dreams has desired that you “make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance,”(Proverbs 20:18).
Realising a dream is a process; it is not a sudden coincidence; (remember our example of Martin Luther King) your dream may seem impossible to realise especially to an unbeliever or even to a believer, but you are a faithful believer, set a goal towards realising your dream trusting God. Your goal should be SMART:
· Specific, about what to achieve
· Measurable, in terms of progress made or not made
· Attainable, think of a British prime minister that won’t speak English
· Reasonable, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
· Time specific, timing gives the motivation to latent talents
You see, that dream you have is not impossible if you will set goals, think of what would have happened had Rev. King done nothing about the dream of having his children living in their country with the same rights and privileges like everyone else, just because he did not set down goals to pursue, think about that.
Goals determine action and create opportunities, as a faithful believer understand that as you begin to set goals, opportunities begin to come (Proverbs 16:9). The promise of God is to bless the work of your hands, if you do nothing and have no goals; you give God no room to bless you. There are conditions to a promise, in the Bible, Jacob had the dream of great blessings and set himself the goal of doing even the smallest thing in sight –keeping his uncle’s sheep until his uncle offered him wages, not even his uncle’s manipulations and treachery could stop the blessings of God in Jacob’s life (Genesis 30:43; 31:10-13).
Goals predict outcome: most Christians live their lives to chance, “spiritualising” everything. “God will take care” is planlessness unless you have a goal. Goals determine your travelling companions. You will drop people who talk negative, or they on their own, will saturate your life with their absence when they find out that you have ideas better than their negative talks, fraud and blackmail –or did you say whitemail?
Your vision should determine the type of goal you set: It could be short time goal of less than 12 months, annual goals –12 months; mid term goals 2-5 years or long-term goals of 5 - 20 years.
Common, wake up and pursue that dream, do not treat your life as trivial, decide to have faith in your dream, insist on the plan of God to prosper you and give you hope and an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). Be ready for some work, determination, to receive divine favour and strategy. You can beat the fear of unbelievers; you can rise above all doubt, anxiety, obstacles and soar on the wings of His glory to achievement because He is with you and will never leave you nor forsake you. He gave you that dream to make a champion and an achiever of you.
My prayer is that God in Christ Jesus bless and greatly increase you. Let me hear from you about your dreams and challenges. The LORD reveals to redeem, our Lord Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”, (John 10:10). HE is talking about you, about me, about all the family of God.