I love goals! I love lists! I love the satisfaction of knowing something is complete and there is such joy and relief when I cross that object off my list. This not only keeps me on track, but it is fulfilling to me to know I have accomplished something. The opposite is true, too. I hate not being able to complete my goals. I hate when I am delayed in finishing a task when I know I should easily be able to do it. But, life typically happens, I get delayed, and I have other things that must come first. So frustrating!
What is a person supposed to do when you make goals in life that are admirable and good, but life in general gets in the way and prohibits the completion of such goals? I tend to try harder to fit time in my schedule to complete the goals. You can always squeeze one more thing in the day, or you learn how to multi-task and do several things at one time. When it comes down to it, though, the more I have to scramble to get it all to fit, the less satisfying it is to cross it off of my list. I find so many new projects that need to be completed while finishing the one or two things I crossed off. My list never ends and it’s an ever-ending disappointment of a never-ending list.
How is this related to contentment one might ask? Psalms 37:4 (NASB) states that we must “delight ourselves in the Lord (Yahweh)”. One goal I have had for years, ever since I was a little girl, was to be a wife and mother. I wanted to stay at home with my children and raise them. I wanted that to be my job. So, I grew up and fulfilled my goal of staying home with my children and being a supportive wife to my husband. One problem, though, I was not always content. You see, in my mind, I had completed that goal in my life already and for some reason had already crossed it off. I constantly would look outside of my “life” and wonder what else I could do that might be fulfilling. It wasn’t until I was talking with my husband last week that it all hit me. I mentioned that this time in my life was hard for me as I don’t really feel I have “real” goals to complete. He just shook his head and said that didn’t make sense since I was living out what I had always wanted in life.
Wow! Not all goals are meant to be crossed out immediately. Now, I knew this on paper as you obviously cannot put laundry on your list and never worry about it again (though, how I wish this were a true possibility)! Not all items can be checked off for good. Some goals in our lives have to be purposefully lived out every day if we truly want to complete our goals. I had already dismissed the goal and was missing the daily blessing of who I was as I was trying to figure out what other goals I could complete. All the while, I was missing out on the greatest goal…the one I always wanted my entire life…being a wife and mother.
This past week has been eye opening as I have put my priorities where they belong. I don’t worry about what others may think of who I am or what I contribute to them. I ponder on what my husband needs from me today. I sang to my children this morning while giving them their orders of what I needed from them before school instead of just going through the routine. My joy has been restored to me because this week I “delighted myself in my Lord” and started acting like the girl He wants me to be: one who contently will leave this one thing on my list until He chooses to cross it off. I delight myself in the Lord…
© 2012 Susan M. Sims
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net
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