Unrealized Goals
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, – 1 Peter 5:5-6 NKJV.
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18 NKJV.
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money). – Matthew 6:24 NKJV.
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV.
I seem to use my own life as an example far too often, but here I go again.
When I was just a boy my goal in life was to become a farmer like my father, like my grandfathers, and most of my ancestors. When I was 14 years old, I began to play the guitar and I had a new goal of becoming a great guitar player. I practiced hours of time every day. Also, I wanted to be a songwriter and I did write a few songs. However, I believe that these goals of being a great guitar player and a songwriter were motivated by pride. The guitar became my God or at least a substitute for God in my life.
After I stopped playing the guitar in a band, I began to have a new goal and that goal was to make a lot of money. I wanted to start a business and I did that in the oilfield with a pipe inspection company. The company lasted for about three years until the oilfield crashed in 1982.
As I grew closer to God during that time, I realized that I wanted to do something with my life that was more fulfilling than what I had been doing. I knew without a doubt that God had called me to preach His Word, but it seemed as though the way was blocked for me to do this. So, I found a substitute being a parole officer. Finally, though God did make it perfectly clear that He wanted me to preach and opened the doors for me to do that.
Were those goals I had in the past just wasted time? No, the time I spent pursuing those goals provided me with the background to minister to a wide variety of people. I continually draw upon those past experiences to help me understand what people are going through in their lives.
There is one rule of life that would have speeded up the process of my understanding and actually doing God’s will. Here it is: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).”