Know Your Target

Michelangelo reminds us: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." Yup, this is so true - it isn't that we don't aim - it is that we settle for aiming low. What is your aim in life? Whatever it is, you always want to aim a little higher than your target if you ever expect to hit it. If your target is moving, you track a little in front of it because you expect that the target will move into your aim. The thing is that God doesn't give us 'moving targets' to aim at in life, so his target for us won't move into our aim - we have to adjust our aim to hit his target! The purpose of aiming is to hit something, not hope whatever it is will just happen into our aim!

My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

My eyes are on the crown - this is a clearly defined target, is it not? The first thing we have to know about aiming is that there needs to be a target. Without a clearly defined target, we will just pursue anything that moves into our view. If you have ever watched any of the special forces train for their missions, they are repeatedly practicing to hit the 'right' targets. They are presented with targets symbolizing the ones they want to hit and the ones they need to purposefully avoid. In other words, they learn to be aware of their environment at all times and they adjust their focus so as to be able clearly identify the right target in their path.

I want to win the race - we are now given a little insight into what is behind hitting the target. There is a strong desire to acquire the target. A target in our focus is not enough - it must be acquired and then achieved. In the military we spent hours on the practice ranges learning how to differentiate between the environment and our target, then to actually acquire it in our scope, and fire upon it with accuracy. Those hours of practice were not so much focused on just our aim, but also on helping us to differentiate the right target - to spot it when it seemed to 'blend in' with the environment around it. What we wanted to do was acquire it before we were stopped in our pursuit.

We need to be proficient at differentiating between the targets that distract us and those that we are really supposed to acquire. When we acquire the right ones, we take aim. We pursue that target with purpose. What target has God placed before you? Chances are that specific target is going to get you closer to achieving the main objective he has designed for your life. Ignore the right targets and you will find yourself aiming at arbitrary ones that are doing little more than confusing your life. Focus on the right one, being attuned to how it presents in your life and what it is you need to do in order to hit it - then you take aim with the intent of hitting it spot on. Just sayin!