Crush Your Goals — God’s Way

I’ve read too many books about achieving goals, accomplishing tasks and being more productive.

Some authors say you should shoot for the stars when setting goals. Other authors say you should have low, reasonable expectations.

Some say that if you write your goals down, you will unlock the positive energy of the universe, which will then flow through you (I’m not making this stuff up). Others go so far as to recommend writing out your own obituary.

All the books have titles like Crushing Your Goals!, Be An Elite Achiever!!, and The Principles for World Domination!!! (these authors really like exclamation points).

And the truth is, these books have helped me to achieve some of my goals.

I ran a half-marathon. I’ve written a few books. I exercise regularly. I did pretty decent in college. Hurray for me, sis-boom-bah, big honkin’ whoop. Not really.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I was able to do those things. But I’m beginning to realize that there’s a big difference between simply achieving goals and achieving goals in a manner that pleases God.

It really is possible to achieve almost anything if you put your mind to it and are willing to pour all your energy into achieving your goal.

This is how morbidly obese people lose 200 pounds, mailroom employees become corporate executives, and total nerds found companies like Apple and Google. It’s also how people memorize entire books of the Bible, create freakishly awesome youth ministries, and write Christian books.

But there are two ways to achieve a goal.

The first way is by relying on your own strength.

You will pull yourself up by the bootstraps, kick down all the doors, and suplex anyone who gets in your way. When you accomplish the goal, you get the glory. That is not God’s way of achieving goals. Unfortunately, I’ve taken this path far too often.

The second way to achieve your goals is in humble dependence upon God.

In Proverbs 16:3 it says:

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Godly goal crushing begins by committing the goal to the Lord.