God Can Make It Possible
Lent is a season of change and preparation for Easter. Perhaps even more than the New Year, Lent is when we set goals to move closer to God’s priorities for our lives.
But does God bless every goal we set, regardless of what those goals are? Godly goals, the kind that God blesses, are the ones that fulfill one of God’s purposes for our lives. If we want God to bless our goals, we need to set a goal that fulfills His purpose.
The Bible often compares life to a race, and we’re running to achieve God’s goals for us. Now in a race you don’t get to set or move the finish line. You can only move toward it one step at a time. You may fall down, or you may fall behind, but the good news is life isn’t a 50-yard dash. It’s a marathon, and here’s the key to the marathon of life. God doesn’t care how fast you run it. He just wants you to make it to the finish line.
Godly goals are achieved with God’s power. Right now, on Amazon there are over 100,000 self-help books. I looked. That’s a lot of advice. The problem is those books don’t have what the Bible has. They don’t come with a power source to help you accomplish what they advise you to do. That’s why you need God.
How many times have you started off the New Year with a new resolution, or a new diet, or a new whatever, and a few weeks later you’re right back where you started? That’s because you didn’t do the two things the Bible says you have to do. First, you need to rely on God’s power. Second, you need to get support from your brothers and sisters in Christ for accountability. You won’t succeed without those two things.
The power to succeed lies in God and community. It lies in God’s power in your life and in the other people who are a part of the process. You won’t make it on your own. You won’t change on your own.
Proverbs 16:9 tells us, “We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it”. That’s why we fail at our resolutions. We don’t depend on Him. Zechariah 4:6 says, “You will not succeed by your own strength or power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths.”
Imagine what you could do if you really believed in your Lenten goals and God’s power to make them a reality. Imagine what you could accomplish if you truly believed that you could be a better, healthier, more faithful person than you were ten years ago. God can make it possible.