Set Goals that Fit in the Big Picture

March 1, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

I don’t know about you, but since Jesus broke into my life more than forty years ago, I have wanted to do what pleases Him. Once I realized that surrendering to Him was changing my life for the better I was all in and I’ve never looked back.

Being all in for Jesus means I want every aspect of my life to honor Him. That includes any goals I set. As years have passed, I have realized that my goals need to line up with His goals.What about you?

Because you belong to Him, you are His to fit in to what He wants. Your desires are clues to what He wants, but they can be unreliable. The Spirit is willing but the flesh…well, you know. How do you know which goals fit in with God’s goals? The only way to be clear about what God wants is to get the big picture.

The big picture is God’s plan for the redemption of humanity. Discovering God’s goals means I must be in the Scriptures regularly. So, I’ve been more attentive as I’ve been in the Scriptures to recognize His goals. My conclusion is this: Any goals I set must line up with God’s overarching goal of restoring people to a relationship with Him. His plan for you is always, always, always going to fit into that big picture.

The Bible is one book from beginning to end. One story. I have read the Bible from beginning to end for a number of years now and the more I read, the more clear it becomes. God loves people and wants them to be close to Him, and because we couldn’t figure that out on our own, He took the initiative. He sent Jesus to do what is necessary to restore our broken relationship with Him. That is God’s goal. That ‘s the big picture. Whatever goals I set need to fit into that plan.

God’s plan for you will never be about your personal satisfaction, although that is important to Him. Jesus came so that we can have an abundant, overflowing, satisfying life. (John 10:10) But that is not His primary goal.

His plan never changes. His plan from beginning to end of the Bible is to have a relationship with humanity. From the moment Adam and Eve walked away from that relationship, His plan has been to restore it. Period. That’s what God wants most. To restore lost humanity into relationship with Himself. His plan for you is part of that plan. That also includes your personal fulfillment. He has a way of covering all the bases at once. He’s God. He can do that!

My personal goals must be connected to my relationship with God. Writing a book was a long-held goal. How was that connected to my relationships with God? I believed that He had called me to do it. It took a while, but I am in the final process of going through my editor’s suggested changes. This year I will finally become a published author. If you are interested, click here to join my email list and get notified when The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word is published.

Obedience to God’s call is part of deepening my relationship with Him. It’s the same for you. Even if you stumble through your obedience as I have, you will deepen your relationship with Him. I can tell you that from experience.

God’s goals for you involve restoring your relationship with Him, but they also involve you in restoring others. Your restored relationship with God is not a one-time deal. It’s continuous. Saying YES to Jesus is just the beginning. That YES restores your connection to God. The process of restoring relationship will continue for the rest of your earthly life.

Part of that process is Him living through you. The more my relationship with God is restored, the more access He has to my life and the more able He is to live through me. As He lives through me and you He will be reaching out to others, drawing them to Himself and restoring every part of their lives. That’s what I hope my book does. How awesome to be a part of that!

Dear Friend, you want to set goals that make a difference in your life and in the world around you. To do that you need to get the big picture. You need to set goals that fit in to God’s goal of restoring His broken relationship with humanity. How awesome and satisfying to be a part of that!

Key Question: How do I set goals that fit in with God’s goals?

A Scripture to Consider: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

A YES Challenge: If you have never read through the Bible, make that a goal for this year to help you get the big picture.

Prayer: Father, thank You for calling me to Yourself. Thank You for making me a part of Your family. Thank You for redeeming my life from the consequences of sin. It’s hard for me to fathom the depths of all that means. Even so, I want to join You in Your goal of redeeming all humanity. Help me to align with Your goal of redemption. Show me how my goals can fit with Your goals. Amen.

How to Set God-Centered Goals — The Word and the Spirit

February 22, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” Ephesians 1:14 NLT

How do you set God-centered goals? If you are like me, you want your life to line up with God’s goals for you. You want to live for His glory. That means you want to set goals that honor Him and advance His Kingdom. A worthy desire! But how?

The key to lining up your goals with God’s goals for you is to know what His goals are, right? But how do you know what His goals are? He has provided all that you need. His Word and His Spirit.

The Word. If you want to set God-centered goals you must immerse yourself in the Word of God. His goal for your life will always line up with His Word. His word is one story from beginning to end. His Word helps you understand the big picture of God’s love for humanity and His plan for their redemption. God-centered goals fit into that big picture.

To know God’s goal for you, you must know His Word. You understand His desires as You understand Him through His Word. Jesus is the Living Word. God-centered goals glorify Jesus and always point to Him.

The Spirit. The Spirit is God present with us here and now. He is the guarantee that our lives belong to God, that we have a part in the inheritance He has planned for His family. What an awesome thought!

ASK: What Do You Want Most?

February 15, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Acts 20:24 NLT

What is the result of God-centered goal setting? God’s glory. Is that what you want most? That’s a question I must often ask myself. If I want to stay on track with God’s purpose for my life, then His glory has to be the driver for my choices. But it often isn’t. What about you?

The key to setting God-centered goals is to seek God’s glory above all else. Much of the internet and print teaching you find about setting goals has to do with self-fulfillment and reaching your full potential. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but it lacks the aspect of fulfilling divine potential, becoming all that God designed you to be.

So, Dear Friend, ask yourself what you really want. Is it self-fulfillment or fulfilling God’s dream for your life?

When I seek God’s glory, my desires become submitted to His. The thing about God’s glory is that it’s about God, not me. Do you start setting goals by asking what you want to do? Even if you start with asking who you want to be it leaves God out of the picture.

Ask: Why Am I Asking?

February 8, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“…You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:2-3 NIV

Motives. It’s so hard to recognize and understand our own motives. What are my motives when I approach God? Am I asking Him to agree with me or am I agreeing with Him? What is it I really want? My motives when I approach God will affect how I ask and what I ask Him for.

Corrie Ten Boom was a well-known Christian author, speaker, and concentration camp survivor. I once heard a quote attributed to her that has shaped my prayers since. She said the key to knowing God’s will is being willing to do whatever He asks. Wow! That is a simple and challenging statement! Do I truly want to know God’s will? Am I willing to do whatever He says?

When I get honest with myself, I recognize times when God’s will is not what I want most. I am really looking for something else, even though I am going to God in prayer.

Comfort. I clearly remember the moment when God revealed comfort as a motive for my prayers. I was fervently praying for a loved one to break out of a deep depression. At least I convinced myself that is what I was praying for. As I prayed, I felt God’s whisper. “Stop!” He showed me that I wasn’t praying for my loved one. I was praying for myself. My loved one’s challenge made my life more difficult. What I was really praying for was my own comfort. My loved one’s healing would make my life easier. That was my motive for prayer. Yuck!

Ambition. I often hear people say they want to do great things for God. So do I!

Ask: How to Get What You Pray For

February 1, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

Do you ever wonder if praying is worthwhile? Do you question if God hears you? I get it! It’s not unusual for believers to question. We wonder why it seems like our prayers aren’t being answered. We wonder if God is listening, or if He is ignoring our prayers. It’s okay to be honest about your questions. Honesty is the place to begin to move forward.

I often hear those questions in my mind, but I have decided not to pay much attention. I have been through the struggling but have come to the conclusion that I can trust God’s character and His word. If I believe He is good, then I can trust Him to answer in His way and His time. If I believe His word is true, then He has given you and me a guideline for how to pray and get what we pray for. Here it is:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

If I ask Him for what He already wants I can be confident He will do it. The key to knowing what He wants is to focus on Him rather than what I want. Then prayer becomes about relationship rather than a transaction.

Ask - The first way to get what you pray for is to pray! How many times do we forget to pray first? Approach every endeavor with prayer. Approach God and include Him.

One of the worst legacies Benjamin Franklin left behind is a quote that has been attributed to him: “God helps those who help themselves.” While there is the truth that God wants us to act on His promises, Franklin’s statement puts God in the passenger seat. This idea influenced how I approached life. I felt like — maybe I still feel— like I need to do everything I can do before I ask God for help. Before I include God.

I’ve learned this is not our Father’s heart. He wants to be involved every step of the way, from idea to completion. He wants to walk alongside you and me like a parent alongside the child riding a two-wheeler for the first time. The parent helps them get started. There is effort on both sides until the child is riding on their own. But that is where the analogy breaks down. Our Heavenly Father stays right alongside us, empowering us and guiding us as we ride.

Anything - You won’t get 100% of the things you don’t ask for. Don’t be afraid to approach God with your requests. He wants to hear from you! I don’t know about you, but that idea of God helping those who help themselves has made me believe that I take care of the small stuff and don’t bother God until I can’t do it myself. Not true!

From the smallest detail to the largest project, He wants us to ask. He wants to be involved in every area of our lives. My life is His. That means all of it. Praying about anything and everything is part of the way I surrender to Him. It is acknowledging that I am His and don’t want to function independently. He cares about all of it! And it’s all His.

According to His will – This is the key. If you ask according to His will, you can be sure that you will receive it. But how do you know His will?

The key to knowing His will is to make knowing Him the priority rather than knowing what He wants you to do. Then you will learn His character and His heart. Those aspects of your relationship with Him will guide you to His will. Knowing His character and His Word is the key to knowing His will.

Dear Friend, He hears your prayers. He understands you and your heart. Do you understand His? If you want to get what you pray for make sure that you are asking God and including Him in the process. Remember you can include Him in anything and everything by bringing it to Him in prayer. But above all, seek Him and His will. When you pray according to that you can be confident that He hears you and you will receive what you ask for.

Key Question: How can get what I ask God for in prayer?

A Scripture to Consider: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 NIV

A YES Challenge: Set aside a half hour to ask yourself some hard questions about your prayer life. Do you ask God first? Are there things you don’t bring to God? What do you believe about His character and His word? What do you want to improve based on your conclusions?

Prayer: Father God, You know me and You understand me. Thank You for Your patience! Forgive me for bringing my will to You in prayer rather than seeking Your will first. Help me to recognize where I am leaving You out of the process and trying to do things on my own. I want to include You. I want to know You better so that I can pray according to Your will. Father, let Your will be done in me and through me. Amen.

God-Centered Goal Setting: Love is the Motivator

January 25, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” Proverbs 23:26 NLT

It’s still early in the year. Have you set some goals yet? If so, did you include God in your goal-setting process? Loving God is about making Him the center of all we do. You and I know that. But do we let our love for Him dictate how we approach setting goals?

Essentially, there are two ways to approach including God in the process. The first is to set goals based on what you want and what you think is best. You may pray and believe these goals are the ones God is speaking to you, which is good. The final step in that process is to ask God to bless your efforts and help you achieve those goals.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that approach. Your desire is to honor God and that is wonderful! However, let me propose a better way.

In the second approach, you put God at the center from the beginning. You ask God what He is doing and how He wants you to participate. You ask Him to guide you in setting goals that achieve His purpose. I grow in my love for God when I focus my goal-setting process on hearing His heart and bringing Him glory. Here’s some perspective.

God-centered goals focus on what He is doing around me. Loving Him and listening to His heart means my eyes are more open to what is happening around me. I recognize when He is at work in a situation. I notice when He wants to move at a slower pace than I prefer. I hear another person’s words through the filter of what He wants to accomplish in and for them.

When I am more aware of what God is doing and wanting to do than my own desires, I can set goals that align with His. There is nothing more satisfying!

God-centered goals reveal what He wants me to do to achieve His goals. When I see and hear what He is doing around me my question becomes, “God, how do you want me to fit into Your plan and purpose here and now?”

ASK: Why Asking God First Helps You Set Better Goals.

January 18, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.” Psalms 73:24 NLT

Setting annual goals has been an important part of my growth journey. Yet, the most important part of the process has been to include God in the planning. The time I take in January to pray and wait on God has helped me set goals that have moved me forward on my spiritual journey and helped me follow through on more than I ever expected.

Including God in your goal-setting process helps you align with God’s purpose. More than that, including God in the process is a relationship-building activity. You learn to hear God’s voice. You learn to recognize His presence and feel His pleasure when you advance.

Remember, goal setting is about the growth, not the goals. Including God in the goal-setting process aids growth in spiritual and practical ways. God-centered goals lead to true success.

True success is accomplishing God’s purpose. I can’t know what God’s purpose is unless I seek Him first. I get lots of ideas. I am often more creative than I think I am. But unless I seek God first, I will spend my time working on something that isn’t His first and best plan. Believe me, it has happened!

How do I open up to discover God’s purpose? I spend time in the Word regularly. My daily time in the Scriptures is not so that I can check off the to-do box. It may have been at one time, but not anymore. My time in the Word helps me know God better. I recognize His patterns. I learn to hear His voice. It is one of the most valuable practices on my spiritual journey.

True success is knowing Him better. The best way to get to know Him and discover His purpose is to listen. What does that look like?

Goal-Setting Step 1: Ask - Listen for the Unexpected

January 11, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Psalms 32:8-9 NIV

Tom and I like to begin the year with a season of prayer and fasting. Why? We want our relationship with God to set the tone for the year. What characteristics does He want to build in us? What weaknesses will we work on? What does God want me to know about Him this year? What goals does God want me to set to help me grow toward the person He designed me to be?

Setting God-centered goals starts with asking God what He wants. This goal-setting process begins in the final quarter of the previous year. That is when I begin praying, listening, and looking to discover my word for the next year. That word becomes a guide as I enter the fasting and prayer season. This process of praying and waiting is about staying open. By removing distractions, like sweet treats, social media, or mindless games on my phone, I make space for God to speak. And He does.

God-centered goals often lead us in unexpected ways to unexpected places with unexpected people. Last year one of my goals was to finally finish writing and publish the book that has been in process for a decade, The YES Adventure. That goal led me to apply for an aspiring author’s cohort with a well-known writer and speaker…and I was accepted! I received one one-on-one input from a woman whose ministry I have admired for several years. Her guidance helped me finally see a clear structure for my book. Not only that, but I also received meaningful personal ministry from her at a conference several years ago and was able to tell her how much she had impacted me. After the online meeting she called to tell me she had left that conference discouraged and wondering if she had connected with anyone. I said, “You did! With me!”

I didn’t know about that cohort in January. If I had not recognized God’s nudge to make the book a priority I would never have applied for the group, received clarity on structure, or had the opportunity to encourage my mentor. The goal wasn’t just about the task, but the people who became part of helping me complete the task. Developing tenacity, learning techniques, and influencing people have all been a part of the book project. It’s so much more than achieving a goal. It’s about the growth, more than the goal.

God-centered goals are about God’s plan for my growth.

One Word and a Framework for God-Centered Goal-Setting.

January 4, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ' Philippians 3:12

It’s that time again. January. When everyone gets a fresh start. As you consider 2025, What do you want to achieve? A more important question: Who do you want to become?

I have found a one-word theme for each year helps me focus and make progress in both of those areas. One word focuses on an area for personal growth, but has also helped me define goals that keep me working toward new achievements.

Here’s a framework to help you discover and build on a one-word theme.

ASK - Ask God what He wants for you in the coming year. Ask Him what one word to focus on. You may be surprised!

AIM – Set goals that line up with God’s word for you and dreams that you know are from Him. Consider all areas of your life: Spiritual, Physical, Relational, Financial, Emotional, Work.

ACT – Design some next steps to achieve those goals. Be sure those steps include all areas of life. When you complete each step determine the next step.

ACHIEVE – Celebrate your wins as you take steps and achieve goals. Then prepare to go through the process again. It’s about the growth, not the goals!

Questions for reflection:

Start with reflection and prayer. There are plenty of resources to help you reflect, and I use several, but here are some questions from me to get you started.

What are you grateful to say goodbye to from 2024?

What has been difficult about this year?

What can you celebrate? What are some of the good gifts God gave you in 2024?

Now, here are some questions to consider as you look forward to 2025:

What do you want to say when you get to this time next year?

How would you like to grow in 2025?

In what way is God calling you to move forward and how will you focus on that?

Let’s take a little more time with that framework.

What if God Really Does Love You?

December 28, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:16 NLT

The most amazing and hard-to-believe aspect of the God story is that this amazing King of the universe loves humanity. He loves all of humanity. But, even more amazing. He loves us as individuals. He loves you and He loves me. It’s a concept I am still struggling to apply to my life. What about you? How deeply have you contemplated His love for you?

God loves you because of who He is. The first letter of John declares that God IS love. He loves because it is His character to love. That can be difficult to remember when reading some of the judgements in the Old Testament! Remembering that God’s character is love raises the question of why hard things happen. “If God really is love, why did He allow this to happen to me?”

The questions don’t negate the truth. God is love. Yet, He allows tragedy and difficult consequences. He doesn’t fix everything in our broken world. Sometimes life is confusing. But when I remember that God is love and that He loves me, I can focus on that love and let the questions rest. Relying on and trusting in His love brings peace. I may not understand, but I can choose to let go when I believe God loves me.

God loves you regardless of what you do. God doesn’t reject people who make mistakes. He doesn’t write you off when you mess up. His loves doesn’t change based on your behavior. That scolding voice you hear in your head is NOT God. It may be the memory of a scolding adult in your childhood, but it is not Your Heavenly Father.

When you and I make foolish and selfish choices, God does not dismiss us in disappointment. He doesn’t reject you because of your imperfections. He reaches out to lift you up and help you make the corrections or to help you walk through the consequences. He loves you and I enough to help us learn from our mistakes.

I have realized that making a mistake is one of my greatest fears. Some of that was born into me. My mother has told me she heard me practicing words in my crib before I said them in public. I have an in-born desire for excellence. But there is a line between aiming for excellence and avoiding mistakes at all costs. I’ve realized a mistaken belief that a mistake meant I should be rejected. Becoming aware of that has brought freedom.

Perhaps people may reject me if I mess up, but God never will. I still need to fight the wrong thinking, but it doesn’t control me anymore. If any of that resonates with you, I hope awareness brings you freedom.

God loves you right now. You don’t have to earn it. Knowing that and living it out are two different things.