You drove around and around the town, then suddenly you found yourself exactly where you wanted to be.

It happens—but not often. More often we end up in a pasture, being contemplated by curious cows.

Usually we get where we want to go by planning the route. Sure there are unexpected detours and we get confused, but I’ve found that between Google on my computer and Google on my IPhone, I can generally get where I want to go.

Now I’ve got a question for you. If we work so hard to get to a physical destination, why do we think it’s any different for the other, more important goals of our life?

You’ve Got To Plan It

To have a great relationship with your spouse or your kids, do you just muddle through, hoping for the best? Careful, you may end up in a cow pasture with an enraged bull.

How about work? You want to advance, to do excellent work, and get paid more don’t you? Do you think that merely showing up and piddling around will get you where you want to go?

Do you want to grow in intimacy and effectiveness in your relationship with God? Are you waiting for the Lord to knock you over with a lightning bolt, after which you will be the Twenty-first century equivalent of the Apostle Paul?

Hope on sweetheart. Those things usually don’t happen accidentally.

Sure God’s hand has to be on us in grace and blessing but we’ve got to treat those things as important, even vital for our life if we want to see them happen. We win life’s lottery by accident sometimes, but it’s rare. Very rare.

And usually when we get something so easily we haven’t developed the skills or the patience to keep it. How many professional sports millionaires are broke a few years after their career finishes?

Intentional

I’ve learned a word the last couple of years that I love. The word is “intentional.” It means you do it on purpose. You make up your mind to go after something.

When we were kids we loved to bop one of our friends and say, “Oh, I’m sorry. It was an accident.” He knew very well it wasn’t. We did it on purpose. Most positive things we accomplish in life are done on purpose. They are intentional.

So how do we go about this? You need to make a plan in all the major areas of your life and work towards that.  Your blueprint isn’t set in concrete and you’ll have to make adjustments as you go forward, but very few people are happy if they don’t feel they have a mission in life.

Decide what God has for you and start working towards that.

What kind of marriage does you want ? What would you have to do to get there? Do you really want to get there? Maybe if you’d do some of the things you did to get her (or him), you’d have a much better relationship with them now.

Why are you on this earth? Come on now. Way down deep you know. What will it take to accomplish your life’s mission? Make a plan and start in that direction.

Here Is How

How can you know God better? How can you move into that place of intimacy with Him? How can you appropriate the gifts and strength that He has promised?

-Stop.

-Think prayerfully about your life.

-See where you want to go in all major areas.

-Make a plan to get there (count on God’s help. Make your goal big enough that it  take faith to get there. Don’t just do what you can do. When you do it big you get to see what God can do).

-Adjust your plan and even your goals when necessary. Its rare that we see the end perfectly when we begin.

-Keep at it. Don’t quit.

-Rejoice when you get there, but kick up your heels in celebration when you win little victories on the way to achieving the big goal. Let yourself enjoy the process as much as the ultimate achievement.

The places you get to accidentally may not be the places you want to be in life. If you’re hearing a lot of “mooos” and see yourself surrounded by cows, you better back up and make a plan.

“It won’t be long before this generous God who has great pans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.” (1 Peter 5, The Message)

Hmmm ….

“Even failure can be redemptive if you learn something from it. It doesn’t have to be career-ending. In fact, it can be career-building—if you take the time to wring all the juice out of the lemon.” Michael Hyatt

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