“But I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on.”

Goal setting is just part of work. If we don’t have goals and objectives that we strive to achieve then we will end up standing still and the rest of the world will pass us by. We have to have goals to know where we are going and to also mark milestones of what we have accomplished. Goals can be those big hairy audacious ones that they talk about in the book “Built to Last”, or they can be small goals that give us sense of forward movement and accumulated with other goals end up completing something big and important. Regardless, we have to have goals. Goals also can carry us through the hard or confusing times when we are not getting clear direction from our boss. We can use them as clarifying tools to go back to those we work for and say, “I am doing this, is this right or wrong for me to try and accomplish?”. Too many times we wait for others to set our goals for us. We should instead be always reevaluating and setting new goals for ourselves so that we are always strengthening and getting better.

Each time I read the book of Job in the Old Testament I pray a prayer of thanks for not every having been tested like Job. Early in Job’s account he says in Chapter 6, verse 11: “But I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on.” Job describes goals as not only a positive but also as a way to work around the negatives in our life. When faced with adversity, trouble or perceived calamity, we can set goals that help carry us forward. What goals have you set for your yourself for the rest of this year, this coming month, this week or today? Without goals we will not move forward. Let us find the goals that we know will carry us forward to work for God’s glory.

Reference: Job 6:11 (New Living Translation)