Goals: Setting & Achieving them in 2020!

I’ve never been big on New Year’s Resolutions, but I am a firm believer in setting goals. What’s the difference you ask? Well most often, a resolution is a promise you make to yourself to do something differently. It’s usually a wish or desire with no actually planning or prayer to back it up. Goals on the other hand, are what we envision, plan and commit to achieve. And most importantly as believers, bring before the Lord and accomplish with the help of the Holy Spirit.

I set goals all throughout the year, but the new year is always an exciting time for me to reevaluate my life and set new goals. When we set goals for our lives, we’re more likely to see growth and less likely to become stagnant. I believe the first step to setting goals, especially for the new year is self-examination. Here are some of the questions I ask myself.

Self-Evaluation Questions:

1. What areas have I grown in spiritually, emotionally, relationally, personally in 2019?
2. What were my greatest struggles and set-backs this past year?
3. What were my greatest accomplishments in 2019?

When I answer these questions, I can get a clearer picture of where I’m at in life and this helps me in setting my goals for the new year. This time of self-evaluation can be a real eye opener. You know the old saying, “You can’t move forward until you look back.” So grab a notebook and take some time to answer these questions.

Next I ask myself these questions as I prepare to set some goals.

Goal Setting Questions:

1. What areas would I like to see growth in during 2020 (again all the areas of my life: relationally, emotionally, spiritually etc…)
2. What would I like to accomplish this year?

After this, I begin to pray and see where God wants my focus to be. You may write down A LOT of things based on the above questions, but I’ve found it’s best to focus on just 2 or 3 at time. Keep your list though, because when you accomplish one set of goals, you can use it to set your next set of goals. As you pray, the Holy Spirit will highlight to you what goals to focus on first. This process of goal setting has helped me tremendously each year, and stirs up an excitement and anticipation of what God is going to do in my life. It helps to ensure that I’m always moving forward, growing and becoming more and more the person God wants me to be. If you don’t do this already, I want to encourage you to try it this year!

So, now that I shared that, I thought I would get real with you and share some of my goals.

My first goal, and the goal I have EVERY year is:

1. To Grow Closer to the Lord

I set this goal every year even though I’ve been walking with God most of my life. This is because I know without a doubt that God has so much more for me; He is infinite; and as long as I exist, there is more of Him to know. Even though I set this goal each year, I feel especially excited this year about it. I feel an overwhelming hunger for God, more than ever before! I believe God is stirring this hunger up in many of His people in preparation of His glorious return! Before He returns, the Bible says that the church will be glorious, moving in power and authority and great unity as a body. I know this can only happen as each of us become more like Him. And guess what? The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him. Think of Moses and how his face shone with the glory of God as he spent time in God’s Presence. I want to shine with His glory! How about you???

So, this is my goal. But what is my plan? Well my plan to accomplish this is to set even more time aside each morning to spend with God. I plan to not just read, but study the Word of God, even more. I plan to dig in and gain greater understanding and revelation. I’ve already begun to take more time to meditate and listen and receive Heavenly impartations. I’m expecting glorious encounters with my King!

My next goal this year is:

• Discover my uniqueness in Christ and express it with greater freedom.

Yes, I know who I am in Christ and my identity in the sense of being a child of God, an heir to the throne and all of that, but I want to discover more who God wants ME to be personally; and express myself with greater freedom than ever before. Not sure if this makes sense. It’s a very personal thing, but this is my desire and I’m going after it. I truly believe that God is doing this in many of His people as well because He wants the body active and flowing in all their unique gifts, embracing each other’s uniqueness, while at the same time operating together in unity for one purpose alone – to glorify Him on the face of the earth. As we discover who we are individually in Christ, and flow more freely in who we are, this will begin to happen in a greater way.

I think caretakers and moms can can definitely relate to this desire for discovery & expression. Even those who have finished one season of their life and are now entering another. For me personally, the last 13 years have been occupied with homeschooling my children. A large part of my life has been studying, preparing, teaching, grading and doing everything I possibly could to see our kids have the best education possible….And I’ve loved every minute of it! On top of that, I’ve worked along side my husband in ministry for many years, wearing many different hats, serving in many different ways, and being all things at all times, even in areas I haven’t necessarily felt especially gifted in….And I’ve considered every minute an honor! But as I shared in my last blog post, I’ve felt a transition happening. Not just in the natural as my homeschool days are coming to an end, but in the spiritual as I hear the Holy Spirit beckoning God’s people to come up higher – to a different place than we’ve ever been before. At the end of last year, I’ve found myself asking God, “What now?” and I’m hearing back, “This is what I want you to discover!” At first, I felt a lot of turmoil because things I’ve loved are changing and the uncertainty of what’s to come can be daunting; but now I feel the excitement arising as I feel God preparing me for the new! I pray this for you too!

On Sunday in church, we sang the song OCEANS, and as we sang, it touched me to the core as I felt, “This is right where I am at!!!!”

You call me out upon the waters…
The great unknown, where feet may fall…
And there I find you in the mystery
In oceans deep, my faith will stand..

YES!! This is where I am this year! Maybe you are too. It’s both scary and exciting isn’t it? Well, that’s because it’s going to require walking by faith as we step into the unknown.

So, that’s my 2nd goal. My plan to accomplish this is…

To be still and listen for His small still voice, and as I hear Him step out. I want to be like Moses: “I won’t move unless you move with Me, Lord.” So, I won’t do the same old, same old things. I won’t act, speak, or do things the same way. I will only place my time, my energy, my talents, and even my thoughts where the Lord directs me to. You can’t have something new if you do the same old things. And we certainly can’t have the new that God has for us unless we follow His lead…no matter where He takes us. The Lord has already told me that when He says step out in this next season, it will NOT be in my comfort zones. He said no more holding back, it’s time to be free and express who He has created me to be. No holding back in any area – only following Him with abandonment. Whenever God has brought change to my life in the past, this has been the process. Instead of reacting as I normally would, I thoughtfully and carefully responded as the Holy Spirit led. Little by little as I did this, putting off the old and taking on the new, I was becoming who God created me to be.  As I do my part, God does the rest. 

So I hope you enjoyed hearing a couple of my goals for 2020, how I set them and how I plan to achieve them with God’s help! I hope it’s inspired you to seek the Lord and set your own goals for 2020. I know God has great things in store for you! My favorite part of this blog is interacting with you and hearing your feedback. I’d love to hear some of your goals for 2020. Just comment below!