God sets goals for every one of us that are in accordance with our specific mix of abilities and desires.
A goal is something wonderful. Suddenly life takes on meaning. Our vision becomes focussed. Our energies are bundled. Our efforts become concentrated. Success becomes measurable. Feelings of self-worth are enhanced: we are doing something for God!
Somebody said: your talents are God's gift to you. What you do with your talents is your gift back to God.
- Sooner or later we identify our life-purpose and then we are faced with the challenge of how to progress. After christians find out about their life-goal, they often react in one of these four ways:
1. They act like Adam.
After the Lord had created Adam, he gave him two immediate goals: he put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. (Genesis 2, 15.)
But Adam didn't do it!
Instead of keeping (heb. shamar, to hedge about as with thorns, to guard, protect) the entrusted garden, he played host to the snake!
Figure: if God told him to protect the garden, he must also have told him why.
(When he told him not to eat of the forbidden fruit, he told him exactly why not: in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.)
Actions have consequences.
Surely, Adam knew about Satan and his wily ways. But for some strange reason he did'nt kick Old Forky Tongue out, even after Satan brazenly questioned the veracity of God's word and thus dropped his disguise.
The first words Satan ever utters in the Holy Writ are: "Indeed, has God said, ...?" In other words: "Did God really say, ...?" He questioned God's word!
Adam did not guard God's garden as he was supposed to. He entertained the satanic serpent!
And instead of cultivating Eden and planting fruit according to his indigenous preferences and eating that, he took what did not belong to him and ate the only fruit which God had expressly forbidden him! He stole what belonged to God.
Adam had a God-given goal, but he didn't pursue it in the least degree!
He did the opposite of what he was told to do.
Later, when God searched for him, he found him in a tree, covered with fig leaves. (Adam already exhibited some of the animalistic traits of his new spiritual lord.)
And when God asked him as to why he had fouled up his assignment so badly, Adam retorted: "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate!" (Genesis 3, 12.)
He pushed the buck!
He shifted the blame!
Instead of accepting that he made a mistake, he made his wife the scape goat; and ultimately the Lord, because he had given her to him.
What a warped sense of responsibility!
There is no such thing as innocence by covering up.
Adam needed to be washed white.
He wanted to be whitewashed.
The Lord was not impressed.
Then God took their fig leaves off and slaughtered two animals.
With their blood he covered their sin, their spiritual nakedness.
With their skins he covered their natural nakedness.
Then he drove them out of the beautiful garden onto the bleak outside. Adam's new assignment: cultivate the ground. This time it was just: cultivate. There was nothing to keep anymore. Satan had already invaded and gained spiritual supremacy over the earth. Now he was "god of this world." (2 Corinthians 4, 4.) He will remain that until Jesus dislodges him on that happy day. (Revelation 20, 3.)
Many people act exactly like Adam. They don't pursue their God-given goals and blame others for their shortcomings and for their unhappiness. They should take a clue from God's dealing with the first man: if you feel cast out and wandering about: quit blaming others! Get your act together. Come back in line. Take control of your life. Do what God told you.
Supercharger Nr 1: Reorganize your priorities!
2. Other christians act like Abraham.
Abraham's life-assignment was to leave his relatives and his father's house and to wander around in the Promised Land. (Genesis 12.) This job doesn't seem too difficult. However, Abraham - contrary to the command - took his dad and his other relatives with him on the journey.
And then he took his good old time.
Abraham spent an unbelievable amount of time between his starting point, the city of Ur, and his destination, Canaan.
Finally, years and years later, - when he was fully 75 years of age -, he made it into Canaan and almost immediately left it again for Egypt.
After he was kicked out of Egypt by Pharaoh and got rid of his nephew Lot, he finally, - as an old man -, took up his lifelong journeyings in the Promised Land.
Araham had a wonderful personality, but he procrastinated.
Is it any wonder that God "procrastinated", too, and anwered Abe's desperate prayer for a son (Isaac) only when he was 100 years old?
If you feel that God is slow to move on your behalf, can it be that you are slow to move on God's behalf?
Are you actively engaged in what he told you to do? Or are you an undecided procrastinator, stuck somewhere between Ur and Canaan?
Get a grip and pursue God's goal with a maximum of dedication. Then he'll be fast to bless you with your "Isaac." Then the Lord will give you what you desire most.
Supercharger Nr 2: Do what you do wholeheartedly!
3. Other christians pursue their goals like Moses.
Moses was Israel's great liberator.
But the young Moses was murderously ambitious. (Exodus 2, 12.)
In his fleshly fervor he resorted to ungodly means and killed an Egyptian man who had quarreled with an Israelite.
To kill a man merely because he is a nuisance is bloody MURDER! He misused his authority as the "son of Pharaoh's daughter."
Moses, the courtier, was a proud man, having been raised in the family of the greatest king of his time, trained up in all the fancy arts of the Egyptians. What was the life of one quarreling peon to him? After all, he was powerful; great in words and deeds before his "grandpa" Pharaoh! And nobody messes with the heir-apparent!
But God promptly made the proud assassin flee to the backside of the desert for 40 years, where he became very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12, 3.)
All proud men face humbling, no matter how called they are.
Elijah thought he was so special as to be the only true believer in his time, when in fact 7000 others were just as qualified for his job as he was himself. At length he was suspended. Elisha took his place.
Even the young and fiery disciple Paul was shipped off to his hometown of Tarsus, because he created such a ruckus among the churches. Then, after he had become bearable for his fellow believers, Pastor Barnabas called on him and made him one of the bible teachers in the big church at Antioch. (Acts 12, 26.)
If you feel sidelined and not called upon, - even though you are a genius -, maybe you are stuck in the Moses-routine. Maybe you are too highstrung for your fellow christians (or co-workers)?
Did anybody call you "overbearing" lately? Or "dominant?" Do you dominate conversations? Are you entertaining everybody with lengthy monologues?
When you do others a favour, do you think that they owe you something in return?
Are you addicted to compliments?
Are you a perfectionist?
If so: tone it down. Take it easy. Don't take yourself so serious. Shut up. Become bearable. Don't hog the limelight! Show respect to whom it is due. God will in due time put you in your place. Exalt him.
Keep the best interest of the other man in mind when you interact with him.
That's called servanthood and love.
Supercharger Nr 3: Use God's methods to do God's work!
4. The fourth and best way to pursue a goal ist the Joseph-way.
Joseph led a supercharged life. He is the finest young man in the entire book of Genesis. His life is also a prophetic picture of the life of Jesus.
You know his story. (Genesis 37-50.)
God had given him a dream: he was to rule. Nothing could stop him in pursuing that goal. Whenever life threw rocks at him, he used them for building blocks!
Wherever life put him, he exercized his gifts selflessly for the common good.
You could call him the original Mr. Positive. Joseph was never discouraged by the way his outward circumstances looked. In his mind he always viewed himself as on top. That's what God had shown him in a dream one night, and, bless God, that made it so.
Joseph was living, weaving and breathing leadership. To lead was his top priority in life. He got up with it, ate it for lunch, inhaled it in the afternoon, and went to bed with it at night. He was a leader. His soul was utterly dominated by his vision.
He had his priorities in line.
It didn't matter that his brothers, Potiphar's wife or the royal butcher and the baker treated him lousily. He trusted God and made the best of every situation. He was ready to use his administrative gifts even in a dungeon. With this attitude he could not help it but rise to the top.
His wholehearted dedication to his vision distracted him from the obstacles.
When you are busy doing something useful you don't have time to pityparty.
You will go under when you lose sight of your goal and focus your attention on the obstacles. Just ask Peter the Waterwalker. (Matthew 14, 30.)
Among his fellow prisoners in Pharaoh's penitentiary were some fallen politicos who had been close to the very king himself. From them he got the inside scoop on big politics. One of them later introduced him to Pharaoh. Talk about divine connections.
- When Pharaoh made Joseph chancellor of the Egyptian empire in God's time, the young man was ready. Joseph was full of confidence and displayed a positive attitude. He knew how to administrate and had excellent information about the affairs of state.
God had opened the door for him supernaturally, Joseph walked through it, and his big dream of "ruling the world for God" finally became reality.
Let's imitate Joseph, no matter how successful we are at the moment. (If we follow him, we insure that we'll stay successful.) Let's live supercharged.
Wishing you God's best always,
your friend in Him,
Gert Hoinle, Editor of Teaching News
© 2001 by Gert Hoinle