Aligned Ambitions: Goal Setting, God's WaySample

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

I recently celebrated 25 years with the Federal government. I still have six years to go, but I am closer to retirement than ever. My husband and I spend hours mapping out our post-retirement future. We aim to purchase a cozy, modest home on two beautifully landscaped acres in Texas. I look forward to building a ‘she-shed’ next to the house, which will serve as my writing and podcasting oasis. My husband dreams of constructing a large, detached garage to shelter restoration projects and his classic C-10 pickup truck. This is our dream; these are our plans – Lord willing.

Today’s scripture takes me back to a time when I rejected the phrase, Lord willing. I was intentional about keeping God at arm’s length when setting goals and making plans. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and I thought leaving Him out of the equation would guarantee my hopes and dreams would come true. I feared if I let Him into the decision-making process, the desires of my heart would fade.

While God’s ways are different than ours, He is not in the business of sabotaging our dreams. On the contrary, His plans for our lives are to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). As Solomon points out in Proverbs 16:3, consulting with God before and during goal setting and making plans is not only wise, but it also causes our thoughts to become agreeable to God’s will. With this alignment comes success. Including God in our plans does not jeopardize our desires, it aligns them with His greater purpose.

Scripture tells us that when we delight ourselves in God and abide in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts (John 15:7; Psalm 37:4). We receive our desires because they are aligned with God’s desires for our lives.

I do not know where God will send my husband and me in retirement – He has yet to reveal that plan to us, but He appreciates humility and flexibility. As such, we are willing to go where He says go, and we are happy to stay if He says stay. Join me tomorrow as we learn the art of perseverance in reaching our goals.