Surprises in Financial Goal Planning

Have you ever achieved a goal? Have you appreciated the amazing gift it is when you accomplished it? More importantly, did you notice the surprising blessings that happened along the way to motivate you towards the finish line?

Michael and I had a number of things we wanted to save for after paying off our mortgage. We didn’t purchase any new clothes during the time we were paying it down, except in cases where our shoes were falling apart or our work clothes had holes in them. We held off on vacations, eating out majority of the time, and on getting a puppy after Declan passed away.

So, when we finished the goal of our mortgage, the money we used to achieve that was divided between everything else we had put on hold. It was refreshing to watch our accounts build and see the fruition of our hard work go to these things.

As the months went by, something felt off. It’s like Michael and I were listless. We prayed about it and waited on the Lord. 13 months had passed since we finished the mortgage. Michael came to me one day and suggested we set another financial goal again.

Having the goal of paying off our mortgage was something that kept us working together. It helped unite our hearts in other areas of our lives as well. It brought excitement when we were dealing with really difficult trials.

(To hear more about this story, get our book, Sustaining Hope, here or on Amazon.

Of course! That’s exactly what we needed. It didn’t take us long to think of what we’d both enjoy doing next. We looked at our budget, figured out how to top off the other categories we had been working on, and then honed in on our new goal.

That’s when something surprising happened. Within days, more money was coming in. How was that even possible? I thanked the Lord and saw how much that would make a difference in the time it would take to reach our target.

I mentioned how surprised and thankful I was about the extra money we received to apply towards our new goal. Then, my wise husband pointed something out to me. He suggested that perhaps we had been getting extra in here and there this past year, but hadn’t noticed it because we didn’t have a direct purpose for it. It got lost in the lump of everything else, so we were less aware and less thankful.

That’s when I realized the power of having a goal. When the Lord leads you to get focused on a financial goal, you learn lessons of discipline, generosity, and gratitude. Your eyes are opened to the countless ways the Lord is present and supportive in it. It gives you extra drive and passion in life.

If you struggle with the lie/mindset of feeling like a failure, having a financial goal is an excellent place to help remedy that. It’s an easy, quantifiable, visual proof of progress. Start with small goals and feel the excitement of achieving it. Then build towards bigger ones and prove to yourself that you can do it.

The biggest place to start in making a financial goal is with prayer. Make sure this is a goal that the Lord desires for you. Once He’s confirmed that, then you can take great pleasure in achieving it, because you know that the Lord is going to see that you do. You’ll be much more aware of His blessings in providing for you as you work towards it, which will build a testimony of His goodness and faithfulness to you.