As a leader, success depends on your ability to take your vision and convert it into reality through a series of micro-steps. Converting vision into reality is the process of setting and reaching faith goals. When I learned this, it transformed my life.
God will not do his work on earth by himself—he insists on working with you.
Mark 16:20 NKJV
And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
God always works this way. Jesus’ birth is a perfect example: He was born of the Virgin Mary and conceived of the Holy Spirit—a partnership between God and a woman. God wants to work with you in close partnership to bring your vision to reality.
Years ago, psychologists discovered that 95 percent of people have no written goals. The other 5 percent have written goals and succeed more often than the 95 percent combined.
Jim Rohn, the late business philosopher once said, “I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps it’s because escape is easier than change.”
Faith goals help you get directly from Point A to Point B instead of wandering in circles. Would you buy a ticket for a cruise that didn’t post a destination? What if the captain welcomed you aboard and said, “My vision is to have a great trip, but I don’t know how to pull it off. We’ll just have to see where we end up.”
Brush strokes of vision
Once you have vision for your life, your business, your church, or your ministry, it’s time to turn the big picture into micro-steps that propel you toward the vision’s fulfillment. Faith goals are brush strokes in the broader masterpiece. Faith goals put feet to your vision. Without faith goals, your vision is just a dream.
1 Corinthians 9:26 NLT
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
1 Corinthians 9:26 AMP
Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
In other words, you don’t just flail around without an idea of what you want to accomplish. You move with purpose to fulfill a concrete goal. You do not just expend energy for no reason.
Mark 9:23 NLT
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
Mark 11:24 NKJV
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
The words “anything” and “things” in these passages mean goals or objects. Faith is the substance of “things” (goals, objectives, targets) that you hope for. Jesus wants you to set faith goals!
The Importance of Faith Goals
Your vision can be big and general, but a goal should be small and actionable. For example, “I want to be healthy” is not a goal, it’s a vision. A faith goal might be, “I will spend 25 minutes a day on a treadmill or stationary bike.” Yet most people’s goals are so general that they lead to no specific action.
Faith can only go after specific things. Faith is the substance of “things” hoped for—meaning specific, concrete things. Your faith cannot be activated without specifics.
I heard someone say, “Faith goals are dangerous. They can hurt your self-image because if you don’t reach them, you will be disappointed in yourself.” I see it much differently.
Having faith goals brings you much closer to your vision than you would be without them. If you’re a student and you aim for an “A” and earn a “B,” isn’t that better than if you had set no goal and got a “C” or “D”?
Faith goals take you closer to fulfilling that wonderful vision you have for your life—that invisible thing that God wants for you. Learn more in my book The Miracle of Faith Goals or get a FREE session on goal setting from The Art of Pacesetting Leadership.
