find the target first

"My philosophy is basically this. And this is something that I live by. And I always have and I always will. Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone...for any reason ever no matter what. No matter where or who or who you were with or where you are going or...where you've been. Ever. For any reason whatsoever." -Michael Scott, The Office (tv show) Season 4 Episode 11

Huh? That is someone without a target, without a goal. What is your target? What are you aiming at in life?
Chances are that target moved and you missed.
Life isn't a shooting range. For people learning how to shoot a gun, going to the range is essential. Mastering the skill of hitting a set point downrange is a wonderful tool, but when you get into a real life scenario; chances are things can get crazy. Sure you can hit dead center on the indoor range target with a .22 rifle from 20 yards; but when you are tracking a 5 point buck 40 yards away dashing west to east through the foliage at about 5mph with a light rain around you and the wind is blowing 8 mph north to south and a bead of sweat has just dropped into your sighting eye- will you still hit the target?
I think sometimes we treat our dreams, goals and ambitions like we're at the shooting range. The target is in our control. It's our comfort zone. But what we're training for in there is not in there. We are merely taking target practice. The real target, the real goal is outside, where nothing is in our control. Target practice is only training.
It's like wanting to start a band. You come up with a name "asparagus parking meter". You buy a Fender guitar. You buy a huge Marshall guitar amp. You play hours of Rock Band on Xbox. You create a wicked cool myspace. You recruit your girlfriend and her friends to make t-shirts. And then some promoter guy finds you a gig. Then you get scared and quit. Why? You've only been taking target practice. You don't have a drummer or bassist. You haven't learned how to actually play that guitar you bought. You don't even have one song written and your mom knows you can't sing. But you have awesomely sweet t-shirts. Get out of the shooting range.
Being able to hit a real target requires adjusting yourself to the surroundings you can't control and knowing how to deal with them so you hit the target. That rock band you want to lead? It's making a mad dash across an open field and you need to adjust your aim with the wind, the weather, your own arm, the distance etc.
In other words, people will say you can't do it. You'll have a severe dis-like for your guitar teacher. the recording studio will be beyond your budget. No one will want to book you. You need a drummer, bad. You and your girlfriend are the only ones that think the t-shirts are rockin'. Still want to hit that target? It's impossible. You need a target you can hit. But you left the shooting range behind. Now what?
That's where Jesus comes in.
"Since we are surrounded by so many examples [of faith], we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up. We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2 GWT)
Jesus zoned out. He ignored all the distractions and temptations and instead focused on the joy ahead of Him. And we must do the same by focusing on Him.
Being focused on Him, we can ignore the lies and the things that hinder us from doing what we know we need to do, from aiming for the target. Are you seeing the joy that is ahead of you?