I have a question for you: What is your ultimate goal?

We often define goals for different areas of our lives—our careers, our finances, our spiritual growth and the like. But it is your ultimate goal that determines your direction.

Look at it like this. If the GPS on your smartphone is set for the airport, but you actually want to go to the mall, you're in trouble. When your GPS announces, "You've arrived at your destination," you'll moan in frustration as you approach the terminal and see signs listing airlines instead of department stores.

In disbelief, you'll protest, "What happened? How did I end up here?" It's quite simple. Your GPS took you where it was programmed to go.

What is your internal GPS set on? Having a lot of friends? Establishing a good home and a great family? Enjoying a certain lifestyle? Building a successful ministry? Experiencing health and happiness?

You may respond, "I'd like all of these things." Most of us would! But what single desire outweighs all others?

It's important to make this distinction because it will ultimately determine your destination. To continue our GPS analogy, the road to different endpoints might be the same at times. You may be able to pursue two goals simultaneously for a while. But inevitably there will come a point in your journey when the pathways will split, and you will have to choose one way or the other.

We are all single-minded in pursuit of something. As Paul wrote, "I press on toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14).

Years ago, I realized I was pressing toward the wrong goal. Every day for 18 months, I would rise at 5 a.m. and pray for two hours. I'd say, "Lord, use me to lead multitudes to salvation, to speak the Word of God powerfully, to bring nations into Your kingdom, to heal the sick and get people free." I asked persistently and passionately for these things morning after morning.

Months passed and one day God spoke to my heart: "Son, your prayers are off target."

I was stunned! What could be better, nobler and more pleasing to my Creator than what I was asking for? I wondered if I had misunderstood what was spoken to my heart. How could all those wonderful spiritual goals be off target?

Immediately, I again heard the Spirit of God. "Judas left all he had to follow Me. He was one of the elite 12. He preached the kingdom of God. He healed the sick, gave to the poor and got people free. Judas is in hell."

I trembled in shock and was dumbfounded. I realized Judas had attained all I was crying out for but was forever lost. Perhaps if he'd examined his internal GPS more carefully, his ending wouldn't have been so disastrous. I realized I could unknowingly be in the same category as Judas. I earnestly inquired, "What should be my targeted goal?"

In answer, God took me to the story of Moses, the Israelite raised as a prince in Egypt.

Moses was brought up with no lack of money, possessions or education. He had the best of everything. To most, his life would have seemed a coveted utopia, yet he wasn't satisfied. He chose to walk away from what the most affluent nation on earth could offer.

Why would he forsake such a lifestyle? Couldn't he find contentment in serving God while still living in Pharaoh's palace? No. Moses' internal GPS dictated that his true desire couldn't be attained where he currently resided. The writer of Hebrews tells us: Moses "esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (Heb. 11:26).

What great reward? When I pose this question, most people respond that it was the promised land. But if this is so, then we must ask, what did a land of milk and honey have to offer that the fertile land of Egypt didn't? In this era, Egypt was rich in natural resources and agriculture. Was the promised land that much better? Could Moses build a nicer house in this new land than the palace where he already resided? I think we can confidently answer no to these questions.

So what was the reward Moses sought? He didn't exactly know at first. He left the palace certain there was more, but he didn't find his reward until 40 years later when, on the backside of the desert, he met God at a bush and experienced His presence. Once this happened, Moses' internal GPS was firmly set. God's presence was his reward.

We see evidence of this later when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt. This is the part of the story that changed everything for me.

For Moses, the time after leaving Egypt was filled with stress. The desert was filled with challenges, and his national approval rating was at an all-time low. In the midst of these turbulent times, God spoke: "Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. However, I will not go up in your midst" (Ex. 33:1-3).

Consider the circumstances Moses and the people faced every day in the desert. Slavery in Egypt was terrible, but wandering in the wilderness didn't seem any better. However, the people had a hope: the land of promise, Canaan. God had told them for years that it was a rich and fertile land, one flowing with abundance.

Now God had instructed their leader to take them into this promised land. He declared there would be a mighty angel to guide them and drive out their foes. There was just one catch: God Himself would not go.

Listen to Moses' reply: "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15).

Moses' reply is mind-boggling. Here was a place of lack, stress and hardship. Here was a desert! Yet in essence, Moses told God, "If I have to choose between Your presence and Your blessing, I'll take Your presence."

Moses' heart was set on the right thing. It directed him to make the best choice even when God offered him a good choice, one common sense and uncomfortable circumstances dictated he should accept. Moses' goal was to know God intimately. This was his highest reward. Nothing was of greater value and nothing could deter him from it.

What God showed me through this story transformed my life and ministry. I began to shift my focus from achievement or blessing—no matter how spiritual or commendable it seemed—to intimacy with God Himself. In the years since, I've learned that nothing could be better than friendship with God. And nothing will keep us on the right path like focusing on the pursuit of His presence.

So I ask you once more, what's your ultimate goal? Is it God's presence? Or is it something lesser, something that seems good but keeps you from seeking intimacy with God? How can you recalibrate your heart and your life so that, like Moses, you seek the greatest reward no matter what? What might result in your life, family and ministry when you do?  

John Bevere and  his wife, Lisa, are the founders of Messenger International. His resources have been translated into more than 90 languages. To dive deeper into this article's topic, check out his new book, Good or God? Why Good Without God Isn't Enough. Learn more at goodorgod.com.

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