How many times have you come to the end of the year or even to the end of the month and realize that you haven’t accomplished what you felt you should have? Whether it is goals for your job or even what we call “the honey dews” around the house, there are things that we all need to scratch off of our “To Do list”. Yet sometimes we have been distracted or maybe have procrastinated and find ourselves with unfulfilled goals.

In this season I find myself thinking of the future and not wanting to one day find myself gray headed rocking on my porch, wishing I would have done something more to obtain spiritual goals in my life. Too many people have good intentions of doing God’s will, but never get to the point of ever doing it. I shudder to think I will live my life through and not make a difference in this generation.

Too many people have good intentions of doing God’s will, but never get to the point of ever doing it.    (tweet)

What is hindering us from seeing God’s will manifest in our lives? Well, let us look at a portion of scripture to answer these questions. In John 5:5-6 it says, “Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

In this portion of scripture, we see Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast of the Jews and ends up at the pool of Bethesda. The people who are crammed around this pool are people who were in desperate need of a miracle. Scriptures says at certain times an angel would stir up the water and the first person who would make it into the pool would be healed. Therefore these people were there with that one goal in mind.

Jesus sees a man at the pool that has been sick for thirty-eight years and asks him if he wants to be healed. What kind of a question is that? It sounds so sarcastic! He was there for one purpose and only that one—to get his miracle! Jesus knew this, why would he insult or badger this man? I believe the Lord was by no means being

I shudder to think I will live my life through and not make a difference in this generation.   (tweet)

sarcastic, but was cutting through all the emotions and baggage that goes with such a need. Jesus knew what was in this man’s heart, but this man had no idea what his true inner feeling was. Many times we think we know what we want, but down deep in our heart, it’s a different story.

Time breezes past at alarming speeds and if we aren’t attentive we will find ourselves many years down the road with unfulfilled goals. If we don’t consider what Jesus is revealing here in this story we might never see a change in our circumstances. We need to be strong enough to look inside and see if there is anything that is hindering us from accomplishing God’s goals in our lives.

Like this man in Jn 5:7, who had seemed to fall in the clutches of accepting where he was and was plagued with passing responsibility, so many people themselves never reach their God given desires and goals. The most drastic thing is when we, as well as this man make the mistake of looking to a source other than God to try and achieve their goals. God wants you to fulfill His goals for your life. Let’s let him help us.