I don’t believe in making New Year’s Resolutions because they usually never materialize. Instead, I adhere to setting goals to achieve a future desired outcome that benefits me and/or my family. Holding yourself to daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals will give you a doable framework to accomplish your hopes and dreams. Planning is key to self-discipline and self-development. Executing that plan launches you forward as you take on your goals in measured bites.
There is nothing unspiritual about goal setting although it is very practical. Faith always looks forward and belief rigorously trusts God for all things. The Bible says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) Your actions give God something to work with as He orchestrates the outcome for you.
Fatalism sets in when a person has no goals, no hopes, and no expectations for the future. It is a life of resignation that nothing will ever get better. With that pessimism, the days will seem mundane and futile. You merely exist because life lacks purpose and meaning. In your head, you live life facing backwards, reminiscing about the past that you cannot do over. You give up and stop caring about anything.
To stay out of the numbness of fatalism, ask God to reveal His purposes for you because they are life-giving and worthwhile. Philippians 1:6 reminds us that God began a good work when we were born. “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” You simply need to discover what that good work will be.
Philippians 1:25 mentions the word “progress.” This means that God wants you to improve with the skills that He has given you to learn, grow, and excel. Your growth and progress glorify Him.
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” God works within you to accomplish the good works He created you for. If you let Him, this partnership with Jesus can be comforting and exhilarating. We don’t have to face life alone. These activities are reasonable, beneficial, and satisfying when we learn to plan and set goals for ourselves.
Be careful to stay out of fuzzy, fanciful, unrealistic, impractical, fantasy-filled ideas that you cook up in your own vivid imagination. Don’t decide what you think God should do for you. That is irreverent and backwards as you shout your orders and expect Him to obey. Instead, humbly seek God for His goals for you. He will reveal specific, measurable, achievable, realistic opportunities to you. Most likely, they will involve helping other people, serving in your community, or spreading the Good News of Jesus to others.
Finally, Philippians 3:13-14 ascribes to a life facing forward motivated by future events. “…But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Past experiences lie behind us from which we draw knowledge, the current day is when we plan for tomorrow, and attainment and accomplishment are what keeps us moving forward. Let God give you dreams and goals that you know you will enjoy. As a result, your life will be full and satisfying knowing that you are working toward achievements that really matter.