New Goals, Old Priorities
The start of the new year is a great time to set new goals. Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with goals. On the one hand, I find them really helpful. Goals can provide more meaning and structure to your day, week, or year as you work toward a specific outcome. I love marking off the check list! On the other hand, goals can become a source of anxiety. Once you write something down, it feels all the more real; more final. And I hate missing my goals. Sometimes I get so focused on not failing to reach my goals, that I miss the priorities that should be guiding my life everyday and every year. This is a text-book example of missing the forest for the trees.
Seeing the Trees AND the Forest
Recently, I have been reading the book of Nehemiah, and I’ve come to see how this leader of the beleaguered Israelite exiles is such a wonderful example of holding in tension big goals and foundational priorities. If you don’t know much about his story, it begins with him as the cupbearer to the king of Persia–a member of the scattered people of Israel due to their exile many years before. There’s been good news recently, however. The Persian Empire has allowed the people of Israel to return to their homeland and rebuild their capital, Jerusalem. Yet, Nehemiah hears things are not going well. The walls of Jerusalem are burned and broken. God’s people are left humiliated, defenseless, and surrounded by neighboring enemies. Distressed for the future of his people, Nehemiah asks the king for permission to return to Israel with one central goal: the rebuilding of Jerusalem and her walls. He is granted permission and, once Nehemiah gets there, he starts work right away. Chapters three and four offer a beautiful picture of how the whole city, under Nehemiah’s leadership, bands together to build up the walls bit by bit, each family doing their part. When neighboring enemies threaten to attack, the Israelites put up a guard and buckle on swords, but they don’t stop the work. It seems nothing will keep Nehemiah from his goal to build the walls and protect his people.
Chapter five, however, takes a turn. It begins with the outcry of the poor and disenfranchised, who have been used and abused by the more well-to-do families of Israel. Nehemiah responds with anger: “I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words,” (Neh 5:6). He gathers together the wealthy and urges them to treat the poor fairly. And he leads by example by being generous to the poor himself. One could claim that Nehemiah was losing focus here. Afterall, his goal was to build walls, not give handouts. He could have ignored the outcry of the poor out of fear of losing the support of the very people that could help him complete his project, but he didn't. Nehemiah does not forfeit his priorities for the sake of completing his projects. His goal was to rebuild Jerusalem and her walls, but he never loses sight of the fact that these walls are for the good of the people within them. Nehemiah has his tree, but he never loses sight of the forest.
People OVER Projects
Nehemiah is such an encouragement to me because he helps me keep my priorities front and center. Big, audacious goals are good and important. God doesn’t want us to coast in this life. No, we are called to be invested in kingdom work, partnering with God in bringing heaven down to earth! This is going to require some big goals, maybe goals even bigger than Nehemiah and the rebuilding of his city. But like Nehemiah, we should never let our goals distract us from the love and generosity that should mark every moment of our lives. Jesus Himself said to His disciples, ‘“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,’” (John 13:35). Have your personal projects ever gotten in the way of the people in your life? I know they have in my life. Setting goals makes me anxious to reach them, but I must continually remind myself that people always come before projects because, in the end, love and generosity are the priorities that should guide us in the Christian life, every year, every day.
The One Who Goes Before Us
Jesus is a wonderful example of the priority of people over projects. Even though He came to earth with the biggest goal ever–saving the world–He was never hurried. In a crowd of thousands, He slowed down to give a personal touch to a suffering woman (Lk 8:43-48). On the way to the city that would reject Him and sentence Him to death–Jerusalem now rebuilt–Jesus slowed down to heal a blind beggar (Mk 10:46-52). Even so, nothing could keep Him from the goal of the cross, where He went to die so that we might live. Jesus, now risen, ascended, and ruling over all creation, is still not too busy to walk with you through the ups and downs of life. Like Nehemiah, He hears our cries for help! We can live lives of love and generosity because of the love He showed us and continues to lavish on us. So, church, as you think about your goals for 2026, don’t lose sight of the priorities of the King who gave all away to save you. May your goals reflect His kingdom priorities. May they never distract you from the people you are called to love or from the One who loves you more than we could possibly imagine.