Goals - 2023

Most years I make lists of specific goals I want to accomplish in different areas of my life. Health, finances, career, ministry. I’ve had long lists of ideal accomplishments that always seem to come up short on delivery. And at the end of the year, I’m making essentially the same list with slight variations in anticipation of the next year. Those lists are rather embarrassing and will not be shared here (or anywhere else). Whether I hit my goals for the year or not, some things seem to never change.

I’m chronically restless. I constantly feel the itch to cast a new vision for something exciting and blaze a new trail.

I’m constantly dissatisfied. Yearning for something (several somethings) I don’t have, and working so hard to try and make it happen.

I’m comparing my life, my home, my position, my success, and my relationships to everyone around me - and to how I expected it to be - and it highlights where I’m lacking. My comparison game breeds contention.

But God.

God gives rest. In my restlessness, He calls to me, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). Not strive and prove that I can conquer. Be still and know. Know Him. Become intimately familiar with who He is and how He operates. He directly said that to know Him is life (John 17:3).

God gives satisfaction. My longing is deep and aching, but it won’t be filled when I finally have/do/am _______. There is only One that can satisfy my longing. “And now O Lord, what else do I wait for? My hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:7) Another way to phrase this verse is “And now O Lord, what else would I hope for? You are the One my soul longs for.”

God is beyond compare. Nothing we have, nothing we understand compares to God. We use metaphors and analogies to try and come close to describing Him, but everything pales and every metaphor breaks down eventually. God is beyond my capability to understand. Yet, He reveals Himself. He makes Himself known.

So rather than a list of goals with deadlines and disappointment, this year I have one goal.

Remain faithful.

Remain faithful to what He has already shown me, even though it’s nothing new or exciting.

Remain faithful to pursuing intimacy with Him, rather than focusing on any accomplishment, relationship, or success I don’t have yet.

Remain faithful to the God who is always faithful, never changing, and so incredibly patient with me and my wandering heart.

The truth though is that even this one thing is impossible for me. I don’t have what it takes to remain faithful.

But God.

The same God who gives rest and satisfaction.

The same God who reveals Himself and longs to have an intimate relationship with me.

That same God gives Himself - He Himself lives in me and works in me to will and to do according to His purpose. (Philippians 2:13).

And God is always faithful.