Rick Warren's Daily DevotionalSample

What's Keeping You from Your Goal?

Ask yourself, "Why haven't I reached my goal already?" What are the barriers, obstacles, and road blocks in your way?

It may be a financial problem or a relational problem or an educational problem holding you back. For some people, it's an emotional barrier. A lot of people sabotage their own success because they think they aren't worthy of it. Whatever your barrier is, you need to identify it before you can move forward.

In Genesis 24, Eliezer had a number of barriers to his goal of finding a wife for Isaac. He had to figure out how to get to a country he'd never been to, then he had to find the right woman he'd never met. And then he had to convince her to go back with him to a country she'd never been to and marry a complete stranger. Oh, and he had to convince her parents to let her go! Most people would call that "mission impossible."

Today I have an assignment for you. I want you to write down on paper what your goals are and then I want you to list the barriers. Why am I having you do this? Because you can't remove an obstacle until you first identify what it is.