Motivation, Vision, and Goals
Happier Living Series
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The issue
Without a vision for the future and specific goals, we can tend to drift through life, and weeks can become months and months become years without us thinking beyond the immediate demands of life. When we aren’t guided by a vision, we can lose sight of the bigger picture of the things that matter and our sense of purpose and meaning. The good news is that it’s never too late to ask God to renew our vision and to commit to do our part to shine His light in the world around us and to fulfill His unique purpose for each of our lives.
It can be a challenge to step out to make a difference, as everyday life can be a struggle in our trouble-filled world. It takes faith and courage and a lot of effort to make a difference! But when we read about the lives of people who had a vision to change their part of the world, we often discover that they were average people—like ourselves—who had the faith to follow the vision God gave them.
Observing the lives of people who have mastered adversity, I have repeatedly noted that they have established goals and, irrespective of obstacles, sought with all their effort to achieve them. From the moment they’ve fixed an objective in their minds and decided to concentrate all their energies on a specific goal, they began to surmount the most difficult odds.—Ari Kiev
William Tyndale’s vision
“I perceived how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.”
William Tyndale (1494–1536) was a scholar and theologian who made one of the first printed translations of the Bible in English. Executed for heresy, his English translations would later be published and form a significant part of modern Bible translations.
William Tyndale was born in 1494 in Gloucestershire, England. In 1506 he began studying at Oxford University. After gaining a B.A. and M.A., Tyndale was able to study the subject which most interested him—theology. But, he was highly critical of the idea that one had to study for a long time before actually being allowed to study the Bible. During his time at Oxford, he sought to create Bible study groups with like-minded friends.
William Tyndale was a gifted linguist and scholar, and known as a man of virtue and good character. However, influenced by ideas of the Reformation, he increasingly became known as a man of unorthodox and radical religious views. In particular, Tyndale was keen to translate the New Testament into English. He believed this would help ordinary people understand scripture directly and not through the filter of the church. …
Tyndale is best remembered for his hope that the Bible would be translated into English to allow the common people to be able to read the Holy Scriptures. His translations also proved to be quite popular, becoming the basis of key future Bible translations. It is estimated that around 80% of the King James Bible is Tyndale’s work.
Four years after his death, King Henry VIII asked for English translations of the Bible to be published. These were heavily based on Tyndale’s original translations.—Biography Online1
Florence Nightingale’s vision
“God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for him alone, without reputation?”
You’ve definitely heard of Florence. Born into a wealthy family, she felt called by God to become a nurse. Despite her family’s protests, she trained in Germany before working at a hospital for wealthy Londoners and volunteering in poorer hospitals treating cholera and typhus.
When news reports from the Crimean War revealed British soldiers were dying of malnutrition and disease, the public outcry was enormous. Until then, women had not been allowed to the front and there were no nurses. But in light of the crisis, Florence’s friend and Secretary of War Sidney Herbert asked her to gather volunteers.
At age 34, she set off with 38 women. Together they saved thousands of lives, with Florence pioneering new standards in hygiene and living standards for wounded soldiers. Working late nights by candlelight, she gained the title ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ and returned home a national hero.
But that wasn’t the end of her service. Despite the news bulletins, there were no official reports on the numbers of dead and wounded. But Florence had the figures. She provided the War Office a detailed breakdown of casualties, using some of the earliest infographics, and recommended best practice for care in future conflict. She continued to campaign in support of improved nursing care and sanitation for decades, including founding a nursing school—the world’s first to be connected to a hospital.
Throughout it all, she dealt with worsening illness and was often bedbound. Even as her physical ability waned, she continued to use her fame, data skills, connections, and training to bring change in the vocation God had given her. And we continue to benefit from her work today.—Olivia Haysman-Walker2
Think about it…
Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.—William Carey
As the one who sets the rules by which we live, God calls us to live by faith in his big plan, not by our limited sight.—Joel Belz
Where there is no vision, there is no hope.—George Washington Carver
What the Bible says...
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.—Ephesians 2:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.—Ecclesiastes 9:10
But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always.—Galatians 4:18
God’s purpose and plans
One of the biggest questions is not, What is my purpose for my life? but, What is God’s purpose for my life. … In our chaotic and unsettling world, it is sometimes hard to understand how God’s purposes are being worked out in our lives. Whatever your case, in the midst of the confusion, fears, anxieties, and distractions of this present world, all of us can benefit from a firmer confidence that God is indeed working out His plans in our lives.
How can we gain this confidence? To be sure, we can’t work it up on our own through human optimism and positive thinking. Rather, it is produced by the Holy Spirit, who works primarily (though not exclusively) through Holy Scripture, which He uses to enlighten our minds and kindle faith in our hearts (Romans 10:17).
God’s purpose for our life has two major aspects: (1) His purpose in the world to come and (2) His purpose in the present world. These are intricately intertwined, and it is important to approach our need for guidance in the present world, which seems so urgent, in the context of God’s larger purposes. Once we situate ourselves in this framework, we can more readily discern and embrace God’s purposes in the unique circumstances of our lives.
Let’s begin by reminding ourselves that the God of the Bible is a God of purpose. And not just general purposes but specific ones. He is the supreme, long-term strategic planner of the universe. He does nothing in a random or haphazard manner. And His purposes extend from eternity past to eternity future, encompassing not only the ultimate destiny of His creation, but our personal lives, as well. …
God’s grand purpose for the world to come is in the process of coming into being in the present through the redeeming and restoring work of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, and by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, God is at work preparing a people to populate His new world. His purpose is to conform them to the image of Christ. This means that God’s purpose for each one of us is to be transformed in our character, such that we more fully reflect the character of our God and increasingly live a life of love and good works.—Thomas A. Tarrants3
Think about it…
Prayer does not blind us to the world, but it transforms our vision of the world, and makes us see it, all men, and all the history of mankind, in the light of God.—Thomas Merton
This is God’s ultimate purpose—to re-create this fallen world and to bring about a new heaven and new earth. He is redeeming a people for Himself, with whom He will dwell and with whom He will share His own glory.—Thomas A. Tarrants
It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.—Rick Warren
What the Bible says...
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.—Titus 2:14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.—1 Peter 1:3–4
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.—Titus 3:8
Published on Anchor January 2025. Read by John Laurence.