One Key to Success This Year
As you ponder all of your goals for this new year let me throw you this curve ball.
I’m not going to tell you not to set goals, but I might be saying don’t focus too much on them.
Don’t get me wrong, goals are great and they keep us on track. But I’m learning, with all my dreaming, I could be missing the very things that will allow me to experience them.
One of my favorite verses in Scripture sets the stage for one of the most-told stories in Scripture:
And David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the LORD be with you!'” 1 Samuel 17:37 (ESV)
In one verse a shepherd boy named David explains why he’s the man to take down the giant, Goliath – and it has nothing to do with the present day. David draws confidence for this fight from his experience of God’s faithfulness in the fields.
The lion and the bear led to the giant.
David met these two beasts because they messed with his sheep. As a shepherd, his sheep were top priority. So much so that David faced a lion and a bear to save his sheep. Wild guess, but I’m thinking that’s not a scenario in which it’s ideal to say, “I’ll figure it out when I get there.” It appears David spent time assessing the threats to his flock and preparing a plan to face them.
And, how did David even know a lion or a bear carried off a sheep from the flock?
He was paying attention.
David could be the shepherd boy who took down the Philistine champion because he engaged in the rhythms of his everyday life and trusted God in the midst of it.
We all want the giant. We dream of the day we sling that stone and what seemed like an insurmountable foe falls at our feet. But if we’re too fixed on our big dreams or long-term goals we can miss God’s daily preps that will ultimately bring us the confidence and skill we need to realize them.
My plan for the future is to be faithful with today.
Today, I find myself in an uncertain place. This new year brings a lot of change and more questions than answers. But one thing I know I can do is engage in today. I can choose to be faithful today. And as I do, I can be sure I’m participating in God’s dreams for me.
How can you be faithful today?
Maybe it’s a simple trip to the grocery store or a story before bedtime, but it matters. Resist the urge to let your mind wander to tomorrow or next week or this summer or five years from now. Let God use today to form you for your tomorrow.
Great start for today in the new year
This spoke strait to my heart and the situation I find myself in. I love that you shared the importance of the lion and the bear to David’s preparation in facing the giant. I find myself focusing too much on why I am “stuck” where I am now and (in my mind) not doing anything of greater importance. Not doing the things I feel like God out inside of me to do. A lot like David must have felt in the midst of his flocks. That very place made him into who he needed to be in order to move on to the next phase of his calling. Not only that, but because of his experience, he was bold and confident in his ability to step into that calling. As someone who struggles with self doubt on occasion, this speaks to me. I must learn to see this place I am in for now from a different perspective. It isn’t “in the way” or “holding me back.” Even if it seems unaligned with my calling, it is actually serving to make me into who the Lord needs me to be. May I be grateful and not grudging of this process and the Lord’s design. May I be patient as it unfolds. Amen.
Thank you for sharing such a bright word or truth!
Amen Kaci! I loved reading this, “Even if it seems unaligned with my calling, it is actually serving to make me into who the Lord needs me to be.” So beautiful! And it’s that perspective that gives EVERY moment such great importance. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Kaci and thank you Katy. Wonderful lessons, especially for me, a 70 year old mother (not grandmother) I’ve been using the scriptural prayers for sons and daughters you posted, Katy, some time ago. Keep up the good & Godly work.
I can find it too easy to fret about tomorrow. I do need to just live today. We are at a cross road in our lives. Do we move in with our son and daughter in love in a city 500 miles away or do we stay in a home we can no longer care for? God knows the right answer, but I must trust Him for today!
I️ can’t seem to get the videos!
Oh no, Cathy! I’m so sorry. Check your spam folder. Sometimes they go in there. If that doesn’t work let me know and I’ll send it to you another way.
Cathy,
There was a little time delay for them to come to my email from when I signed up. The first came about day later I think. Hopefully you’ll get them soon! They are great!
I love the subtitle where you wrote, “My Plan For The Future Is To be Faithful With Today.”
A Very Good Place to Begin 2018. Also to resist letting my mind wander to the Future. It is an excellent reminder to live in the Now and in Today. It is all we have been given by the Lord , so to live it out moment by moment is an Awesome Reminder for all of us! Thank You for this encouraging article and great insights. Debra.
Oops! That should say feel like God put, not feel like God out 🙂
This message blessed me so! Exactly the message God was trying to speak to my heart! For such a driven, goal oriented girl, being still and resting in His way and His plan and His timing is His message to me today. Be faithful today for my future is in His hands and I can trust His plans are good! Thanks Katy!!
Hi Wendy! It’s so great to hear from you. I understand the driven, goal-oriented thing so well. Shifting my focus to be faithful with each day has brought such freedom. I love your words, “my future is in His hands and I can trust His plans are good!” Thanks for sharing!
Yes. God has been so good to me all these years. And His word to to be faithful to one day is so timely to me as I am preparing to face this year 2018 with his words in Jeremiah 29 and verse 11. He has a plan for a great year for me. Therefore, I will take a day at a time so I do not overlook but count my blessings each day.
This year is my year of Jubilee for my family and in every aspect of our lives. And I believe it can be declared by anyone who believes in the mighty power of God working in and through our lives. Touching all those around us. May we continue in his will. Amen.