If you’re like me, you probably have some form of a to-do list. Either one where you write down things you want to get done or one that someone else keeps for you. A to-do list is a type of goal-setting. Setting goals is a good way to help us accomplish things. The goal is the mark by which we measure whether we have done what we set out to do.
On September 12, 1962, President John Kennedy said: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”
The goal was the moon. That goal was reached on July 16, 1969, when the Eagle landed on the Sea of Tranquility. But even with the goal set, that dream was impossible without sequential steps that had to take place to make that happen. Realize where we were at the time of that speech. Alan Shepherd had only gone up a year before. John Glenn orbited the earth only five months before. The great goal of landing on the moon, by all calculations, was like eating elephant. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
I was taught to set goals. Goals are great. They help you stay on track. Not only do they make sure we know when the job is done, but there’s a sense of accomplishment when we get to scratch something off our list. But goals are primarily driven by tasks not purpose. The engineers didn’t need to know why we were going to the moon. All they cared about was: what do you want and when do you want it? But for most of us, we want to know why we are doing this in the first place. We need a purpose that justifies the goal.
What was our purpose in getting to the moon? To beat the Russians. Back then, we were in the space race. Getting there first was our purpose in going to the moon. That was our why. See, the goal was the what. It requires a how and when, but the why was the reason. It was our justification for staying on track to accomplish the goal.
When Israel left Egypt, they had as a goal to reach the Promised Land. But they never understood the reason Moses was taking them there. To them this was just a relocation project, but to God, it was the beginning of a new life. The people didn’t grasp that. That’s why, when God began to reshape them for the life He had planned, they rebelled and most of those died in the desert. They were okay with the goal but rejected the purpose God had over that goal.
If getting into the Promised Land was all God intended, who they became wouldn’t have mattered. They would have arrived, achieved the goal, and then what? But, since God’s purpose wasn’t a destination, but a life, adjusting to that life was essential.
CNN documentary on Jerusalem – they had no concept of God working out a plan for Israel that He had set before the foundation of the world. Totally secular.
So, over-arching the goal of getting into the Promised Land was the purpose of them becoming the people of God. When they left Egypt, they didn’t know what that meant.
To keep from overwhelming them, God didn’t show them His purpose until later in the journey. He started with a foundation principle: you are to obey Me.
Jer 7:22 For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'
It was progressive revelation. Let’s start with step one of getting to the Promised Land. Let’s leave Egypt. Along the way, you’ll learn who I am and what I can do. I’ll open the sea for you to pass through. I’ll feed you every day with the bread of Heaven. I’ll give you a cloud and a light to show you the way. I’ll defeat your enemies for you.
Now, another step will be at Mt. Sinai where I will tell you how I want you to live as My people. To do so, you’ll need a list of basic Commandments to follow. You’ll learn a new way of doing worship. I’ll give you instructions for a sacrificial system. But you’ll need some general rules for how you are to live together as My People, so I’ll give you My law.
All of this was moving them closer to their new identity as the People of God. First, they had to learn how great God really was. And then learn obedience by which they would: walk in all the way which I command you. That was essential. They had to accept an open-ended right of God to rule. Which meant they were to connect their life to the train of God’s purpose. The promise being, by doing do: it may be well with you.
The 40-year desert experience was to remove those who refused to submit to God, then, to remove Egypt from the rest of them and reshape them to live by commands that would demonstrate their new identity. Why would God be so harsh? I thought He loved us and didn’t care how we lived, that He’d forgive us and accept us just like we were.
You do realize there is truth in that statement but it’s twisted truth. Whenever we expect the love of God to ignore our behavior, we’ve misunderstood the holiness of God. Whenever we want a God of mercy and not a God of judgement, we’ve misunderstood the righteousness of God. Whenever we want a God of truth and not a God of accountability for that truth, we’ve misunderstood the character of God.
There’s a sign on I45 for a local church. The message is basically: God loves you just like you are. Yes, He does, but because He loves us, He would never leave us like we are. His purpose involves changing the direction of our lives.
Heb 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." 10 …He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
I love you too much to leave you like I found you.
Which is where the Purpose of God comes in for us. The same purpose He had over Israel: to make them the People of God is over us – to make us Children of God. To get us there, there are some universal steps through which God will work in all our lives: to make us holy, to establish godliness as the foundational characteristic of our lives, to produce the fruit of righteousness that shows the world His goodness in and through us, to infill us with His Spirit whereby we will demonstrate: Gal 5:22 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…, to gift and call us into service of the Kingdom.
Then there is the change factor, reorienting our wills so we can agree with the direction God wants us to go. It’s called repentance.
2Cor 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Rom 6:4 So that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
The result is a life that reveals our Father in Heaven. I thought God’s purpose was to get us into Heaven. That’s what the Israelites thought about the Promised Land. God’s goal isn’t to get us to Heaven, otherwise He should have taken us on when we accepted Him as our Savior. He intends to pour Heaven into us through a new life that honors Him.
In our study last week, we noted: We are engaged in a struggle between the urge to determine life for ourselves and surrendering to His right to rule. The lie that we can do a better job than He can in running our lives remains hidden in our hearts and must daily be denied room in our minds.
So, like Israel coming out of Egypt to journey to the Promised Land, there is a purpose beyond the goal. God used the desert to expose how resistant they were to that purpose and to give them opportunities to repent. He does the same for us.
Every temptation, every test, every trial, every turmoil is an opportunity to adjust ourselves to God’s purpose. These tribulations are crossroads where we must decide which direction we go. Will we exercise faith and follow God or will we revert to our old way of depending on ourselves with no regard for what God wants?
We never think about it but there were many mid-course corrections necessary for Apollo 11 to reach the moon. Same for us.
1Cor 9:26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
What keeps us in the race, in the ring, in the realm of God’s purpose? Staying on track. Not getting derailed by obstacles, hindrances or weariness.
A train is designed to run on rails. Many things can interfere with that, and if they do, the train can be derailed. The number one cause of derailment is broken rails and welds. The second is bearing failure within the wheels. Both caused by being worn down and stressed by use. Parts become weary over time.
Weariness has no age limit. You can get weary of life in your twenties as easily as you can in your eighties. We can get weary when things weigh us down, or wear us out, or grind us up. We get worn down by the friction of life and often chose to give up.
THOMAS EDISON: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
Why do people give up?
Ps 6:6 I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. 7 My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries.
Did you know what makes us feel old isn’t age? It’s weariness.
Weariness: extreme tiredness; fatigue; exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness; reluctance to see or experience any more of something. The state of being tired of something because you have experienced too much of it.
Turkey plant.
Why do we become weary?
Too much going on. Worn down by life. Physically, we can only carry so much. It’s the same way emotionally. Worn down by constant flow like rocks in a river bed. Or washed out by the intensity of a sudden crisis like being hit with a flash flood.
Lack of Discipline – no one cares so why should we. It’s that message “God loves me just like I am” that makes people settle for so much less than is available.
Refusal to take responsibility for growing as a Christian. It’s okay for a baby to need to be fed. It’s sad when adults need to be fed. The hope is, spiritually, we can learn how to feed ourselves.
Heb 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Looking at the wrong standard. Many are more concerned about how they appear to others than how God sees them.
Trying to get better results with the same tactics. Instead of quitting, let’s change strategy. If this is my common result, I need to change my actions. Reeve trying to explain something to his sister. He kept repeating the same words each time. If the words I’m using don’t get the understanding I’m expecting, I need to change the words. If my actions aren’t getting the results I’m wanting, I need to change my actions.
We don't believe in what God has made possible.
Matt 11:28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Why did He tell us that? He knew life was hard and we’d need strength we didn’t have but where we could get it.
Heb 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. [so you won’t become weary and give up. NLT]
Isa 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
How does this help us find our purpose in life? By encouraging us to stay on track, even when we get weary. Remember, it’s not a destination. It’s a journey. A journey is a process of moving toward something. For that journey, God promises the strength, the encouragement, the drive, the motivation, the target and the goals to get us there. What’s the reward? Rom 8:28 God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.
TAKEAWAYS:
- Life is a refining process to help shape us into that which identifies us as Children of God.
- Who we are now is a stepping stone to who we’re to become.
- When God sets the purpose, He also provides everything necessary to accomplish that purpose.
- Thankfully, we never arrive but always have more to which we can look forward.
- Wherever we are in our journey, God’s not done, and has more for us to experience, discover and enjoy.
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