Press on to reach the end of the race

I really mean it.

Press on to reach the end of the race.

The half-way point of this year was just a few days ago (June 30^th) and I know that most of us are relentlessly pursuing our goals.   I also know that a number of us are weary from pursuing our goals and need encouragement.   Well, this is post to encourage everyone that has goals to achieve and to give you a strategy for effectively pursuing these goals.

In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul revealed a strategy for effectively pursuing goals. He wrote, "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

The strategy has five steps:

1.  Articulate Your Goal
The first step to coming up with a strategy for effectively pursuing your goal is to clearly articulate what your goal is.  I know a lot of people that are pursuing goals but cannot clearly articulate what these goals are.

Although it is stated at the end of the passage, Paul knew what his goal was and could clearly articulate it: to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, had called him.  

Do you know what your goal is and can you clearly articulate it?  

2.  Establish and Accept Your Current Position
After articulating your goal, you need to establish and accept your current position. Your current position will most likely be some distance away from your goal. When this is the case, the best way forward will be to acknowledge that you are some distance away from your goal. It is sometimes difficult to accept that you are some distance away from your goal, but a prerequisite to developing a strategy for effectively pursuing your goals.

Paul easily stated his current position and acknowledged that it was some distance away from his goal: "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it [yet]" he wrote.  

How far are you from your goal?  Have you achieved it yet?  Is it hard or easy to acknowledge that you are some distance away from your goal?

3.  Forget the Past
The past includes your victories and your failures.  Victories have a tendency of boosting your expectations of victory, leading to complacency.  Failures have a tendency of dampening your expectations of victory, leading to intimidation. Complacency and intimidation both stall your progress towards your goals.

Because Paul did not want complacency and intimidation to stall his progress towards his goal, he resolved to forget the past. Forgetting the past is letting go of past victories and failures. When you let go of past victories and failures, you release yourself to move on with a clearer vision of what lies ahead.

How are the victories and failures affecting your progress towards your goals?  Are your victories making you complacent?  Are your failures making you intimidation? Have you allowed complacency and intimidation to stall your progress? Will you let go of past victories and failures and release yourself to move on with a clearer vision of what lies ahead?

4.  Look Forward to What Lies Ahead
After letting go of the past, shift your focus to the course that leads to the completion of your goal.  You will find that there are opportunities as well as obstacles ahead of you. To achieve your goal, you need to maximize on the opportunities and to overcome the obstacles. Your chances of maximizing on the opportunities and overcoming the obstacles are increased by having a good look at the course that leads to the completion of your goal.  

Paul had his mind set on the course that would lead to the completion of his goal: "looking forward to what lies ahead" he said.

Are your eyes set on the course that leads to the completion of your goal? Do you see how you are going to maximize on the opportunities and to overcome the obstacles that are along the course?

5.  Press on to Reach the End of the Race
Finally, press on. To press on is to persevere.  Perseverance is "a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etcetera, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement" (Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary).  

The final thing you need to do in effectively pursuing your goals is to persistently follow the course that leads to the completion of your goals in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.  This is what Paul meant he was doing, and going to continue doing, when he said, "I press on to reach the end of the race."

Are you geared up to reach the end of your race?  Are you ready to persistently follow the course that leads to the completion of your goals in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement?

This is one thing that you must do and continue doing in order for you to achieve your goals.

Although we are past the half-way point of the year, there is still enough time for you to achieve your goals.  All you need is to developing a strategy for effectively pursuing your goals – articulate your goal, establish and accept your current position, forget your past, look forward to what lies ahead and press on to reach the end of the race.  

Unto whom shall we look?

If the farmer refuses to sow
If the fields lie bare, untilled
Unto whom shall we look?

If the rains refuse to fall
If the shoot withers and die, thirsty
Unto whom shall we look?

If the reapers refuse to reap
If the harvest withers and rots
Unto whom shall we look?

If the miller refuses to grind
If the grain is unground
Unto whom shall we look?

If the cook refuses to make bread
If the meal is not mixed
Unto whom shall we look?

Unto whom shall I look?
Unto whom shall you look?
Unto whom shall we look?

Unto God shall we look!
Unto the creator of the heavens and the earth
Unto the Lord Our Provider, Jehovah Jireh