The familiar phrase — “what did Jesus do?” — comes to mind as we study the Bible today (and yes, I know I altered the wording just a little). What brings Paul to believe God was leading him into danger? Where does the desire to follow God’s leading come from? How can the church develop greater understanding of God-given goals? What the church ought to do with these God-given goals is better understood with an ever growing and deepening relationship with Jesus. Here are 3 guides for your goals from Acts 20:

1. Stay on Course

Acts 20:24, “none of these things move me…finish my course”

We can be easily distracted . I remember when our children were young, and family or friends were visiting. All a child had to do was walk into the room and smile or laugh and the adult conversation was hijacked! Everyone’s attention immediately shifted to the cute child with their cute giggle. We sometimes could not even remember what we were talking about to restart the conversation after “Miss Cuteness” waddled back down the hallway. Give us something shiny, shocking, or stirring and our attention is swiftly diverted.

Spiritually, we can be distracted from our relationship with God with lack of comfort, ungodly peer pressure, or even well intended believers who are ruled more by their emotions than their relationship with Jesus.Paul is not “moved” by physical harm because he is focused on Jesus.

The word “course” has the idea of “a track or path marked out” -- “a race.”
Paul saw his life as a racecourse God Himself had marked out.

We tend to start our adult lives with big plans. Don’t we? We will go to college or tech school, get the best paying job, get married to the best person, maybe have some kids, maybe do some travel, serve God in our local church, and work hard at saving for a retirement. Then we discover the plan has some twists and turns in it. We discover God has plans for us that are different from our plan…or perhaps we made choices away from God and now have to deal with the outcomes.

I remember vividly how I was spread out on the cath lab table in the middle of my heart attack. I was clearly not in control of the circumstances surrounding my life. I remembered I had gone through the balloon procedure years ago and that I had remained awake for the entire procedure. So, I assumed the same would be true for placing stents. The doc began to prep my arm. I felt the cut on my wrist area, and I began to pray, “Dear God, please help me tolerate all this pain and this procedure!” Sometimes there is no harder – and no better – place to be than in total dependence on God when discerning God’s will. Greater dependence on God has a sharpened view of God’s personalized “racecourse” for you!So, to have A SHARPENED VIEW OF YOUR PERSONAL RACECOURSE that God has outlined just for you, there must be greater dependence on Him. To have greater dependence on God, there must be greater love of Him, and to have a greater love for Him there must be a greater relationship with Him, and to have greater relationship there must be greater knowledge of Him, and to have greater knowledge there must be greater time spent with Jesus! Your time with Jesus literally impacts your life choices (more time with Jesus brings better life choices).

2. Finish with Joy

“that I might finish my course with joy”

We cannot treat God’s will as something we dread…that would be misery! Dreading God’s will reveals lack of trust. A truly yielded spirit rejoices in the journey.

When Saturday rolls around and we think, “Ugh. I HAVE to go to church tomorrow.” Or when we worry that God would call our child into missionary work on the opposite side of the globe…or when we do not sacrificially love the wife we chose, or we do not willingly follow the husband we chose – we find ourselves dreading God’s will. All of these are significantly impacted through our relationship with God! A deeper relationship with God bears the fruit of genuine love, joy, and peace. Gal. 5:22-23; Ps. 34:10; 63:1; Jer. 29:13.

Did you notice that Paul is not just talking about the absence of dread? He is actually talking about the presence of JOY. Finishing with JOY, for the apostle Paul, meant:

Surrendered. It was his is personal choice to follow God.
Content. He wouldn’t want it any other way.
Fulfilled. He did not feel as though he missed out on something better. God’s will is the “something better.”
Peace. He was not overflowing with anxiety, worry, resentment, bitterness, complaining, or anger. Joy is not connected to any such thing. Paul is at peace.

3. Finish the Job

“testify of the gospel of the grace of God”

Paul’s eyes are fixed on the true message of the grace of God that saved his soul years ago. He is now going to a much colder audience to share the good news.

Years ago, my wife and I were the pastor and pastor’s wife of a small church. In this church, there were families with struggles (as all families have). Years passed, we moved on to God’s next turn on the “racecourse” He laid out for us, and the families of that church grew up. One particular family saw several of their kiddos struggle spiritually as young adults. Recently, we saw one of the siblings share on social media their revival journey, their salvation, and their baptism. A couple months later another sibling got right with God and got baptized as well. I chatted with them through private messages. One of them shared how grateful he was that God would forgive him after rejecting the Lord for 15 years. He talked as one who had been transformed from within. God did that!

God has people He is calling you and me to point to Him. Sometimes we think they will never choose God and that their heart is too stubborn. Finish the job God gave you, church!

Is your life harder or uncomfortable right now? Don’t give up! Sharpened your focus on Jesus!

Deepen your relationship with Jesus. Spend more time with Jesus, so that you may have a changed outlook from things like “I HAVE to go to church” to “I GET to go to church!” May we all sharpen our focus on God’s racecourse for our lives.