It's the New Year. Many people—including myself—are setting new goals, re-evaluating last year's, checking off a few (less than I'd like, obviously), and tossing out still others. I've got a great tool for setting goals I use annually (from Monk Manual) and I normally love this part of the year. But this year has got me thinking maybe, just maybe, we're going about this all wrong.
I've used processes that invite us to imagine what we'd like to see on our tombstone or what we hope others might say about us at our funeral service. That's rather a long way out for some...so 3-year and 5-year goals are a common go-to instead. We ask ourselves "Where do I want to be in three years? Five?" We write out "doing" versus "being" goals. Prioritize, then re-prioritize.
But still, the average person doesn't achieve many—if any—of their set goals.
This leads some to forgo the entire process, failing to plan at all. (And you know what they say about that...) I'm not for this at all.
I wonder, though, if we are coming at this from the wrong perspective.
What if the right perspective is not to make the missions, goals, and supporting tasks around what WE want or think we want. What if the RIGHT perspective removes us from the center and puts God there instead? What if all this goal-setting is actually food for the flesh?
What if we should be asking what God has called us to do, instead of what we'd like to accomplish? The way we're going now is obviously not working anyway.
Instead of asking where we'd like to be in 3 or 5 years, what if we asked ourselves "When was the last time I was doing exactly what God wanted me to do? Where was I when I was exactly where God wanted me to be?" What if our purpose-driven selves eliminated all the possible fragmented purposes we've tossed in the mix and instead become fixed on THE PURPOSE for which we were made: to glorify God and be in relationship with Him.
What if all the artificial (dates, numbers, years, priorities, time, etc.) gave way to simply loving and glorifying God? What if, to accomplish this, we did what he calls us to do daily instead of breaking it down yearly? Instead of giving in to our addictions to problem-solving and multi-tasking, we asked daily "Who is he calling me to notice today? Where is he calling me today? "
Calling is where God's anointing meets the passion he put in you. Calling is the land where we become fruitful rather than goal-seeking. Deep calling until deep.
A friend told me that Henry Blackaby once said "The need does not constitute the call" and that is so true! (I need to put this on my mirror!) So we must become discerning: where are needs and where am I called?
I once heard Fuschia Pickett (now gone on to Heaven) say that if we just say "yes" to God daily and "no" to ourselves and the Devil, when we get to Heaven, we'll have accomplished all that he ever wanted. Note that it is not "yes" to everyone, just God.
Now that sounds like freedom.
Grace calls us, daily.