Direction, Not Intention

By: Milan Ford


I'll never forget a trip my family and I took to Washington D.C. to attend the high school graduation of my wife's little brother. As the parents of two daughters (then ages 4 and 2), and a 6 month old baby boy, I'm sure you can imagine just how difficult that road trip was for us.

If it wasn't for our children's godmother (who came along with us), we would have certainly had to check into a psychiatric ward once we got back.

During this trip, I learned a few things about myself that I hope (after reading this) will help radically reshape the way you and I have long perceived the direction and path God may be leading us to follow.

My wife and I go absolutely nowhere without our GPS system. From locating the nearest restaurants and gas stations, to discovering what roads and highways serve as the best shortcuts, our GPS has been like a distant cousin to us both. So much so we gave it a name: Anne.

Although we had been to D.C. a few times before, navigating in and around the city has always been a daunting task. Not only are the multiple Beltway interstates (I-95, I-295, I-395 & I-66) a never ending maze, the number of two-way streets that turn into one-way roads will make your head spin. So needless to say, having Anne around with us on this trip was extremely vital.

On the morning we were set to return, I had the bright idea of stopping through downtown to take some pics of the family in front of a few monuments; been a big fan of them ever since I was a kid.

We packed up the car, fastened all the kids in their seats, and then took our favorite person in the whole wide world (Anne) out of the glove compartment. I turned her on, overwhelmed with joy to begin entering in the addresses for the monuments we wanted to visit before leaving town. But suddenly, my joy quickly turned into shock as Anne uttered these four very frightening words:

Unable To Locate Satellite.

This message from Anne was something (I'll admit) I had seen once or twice before. It happens every time I would forget to charge her up over night. Without a full battery, Anne became useless. So being the revolutionary man that I am, I decided to take matters in my own hands, and tried to drive downtown without Anne's assistance. (In my mind) I didn't have the time to wait on Anne to charge back up; I wanted to get there by myself.

I'm sure you can just imagine where this story is heading now, right?

It never ceases to amaze me how we as believers find it difficult to wait on the guidance and direction of God concerning our lives. Despite the fact that He has proven time after time that He will never lead us astray, many of us still seek to take the wheel of our lives in our own hands and navigate along certain paths that He may (in many circumstances) never intended for us to take.

I learned a very valuable lesson nearly two years ago from a message by Pastor Andy Stanley. It serves as the underlining message of his brand new book, The Principle of The Path.

Here it is: Direction, Not Intention, Determines Destination.

No matter how much you and I intend on doing the right things in life, we need to assure that it is God who is directing and guiding our decisions, and not our individual pursuits and desires. More often than not, the paths many of us find ourselves on are driven by how we feel, and what we see, rather than the paths God may have for us, which are never bound or dependent on our senses.

Is there anything wrong with wanting a better job? Absolutely not. Is there anything wrong with wanting a bigger home, or nicer car? Again, not at all. And yes, I realize the timetable you set for getting married has come and passed, but before you try to grab the wheel and make something happen, allow these words to redirect you as they did for me this weekend:

Direction, Not Intention, Determines Destination.

If you're heading down the wrong direction, it doesn't matter what destination you intend on reaching, you will never get there (no matter how hard you try or how hard you pray). God's laws of guidance do not bend towards us. We bend towards them.

Funny thing happened once we finally got downtown to visit one of the monuments (a 45 minute trip that on any other day would have taken less than 10). As soon as I parked the car, Anne (our GPS device) found the satellite and prompted us to enter in our directions.

God is quite the comedian, isn't He? Gotta love Him.

Scripture Of The Day: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will guide you with My eye." - Psalms 32:8

Milan Ford has been a leader (and survivor) of ministry within the local church for most of his life. The author of the brand new book, 83 Things I Wish The Black Church Would Stop Doing, you can find Milan rambling and writing at http://www.thepewview.com.…

Life by GPS

Milan Ford


About a year ago, my wife and I decided to purchase a GPS (global positioning system) device for our new m-i-n-i-v-a-n. Sorry for the long pause there. It's just that as a 33-year old urbanite, it's still rather hard for me to believe I actually own a mini-van. Very humbling to say the least.

I was pretty excited about finally owning our own GPS; we had been talking about doing a few road trips with the kids for some time now, and the whole MapQuest thing wasn't getting a bit old.

I mean who in the world still finds enjoyment reading and carrying around a folder full of printed directions everywhere they go?

(there's a message hidden in that statement, but i'll have to tackle that some other day)

We decided to try it out the other day while coming back from church one day. The following are just a few life lessons we both learned along the way. All courtesy of GPS.

1. When turning on the device, a screen immediately popped up and told us that the driver of the vehicle should NEVER try entering any new coordinates into the device while driving.

I assume driving and trying to control the device at the same time is FAR TOO DANGEROUS.

2. When entering in a specific destination, the device gave us the option on whether or not we wanted to travel by AVOIDING any highways, intersections, or U-Turns.

3. We decided to enter the address of a restaurant we had been to several times before. To our surprise, the device took us a totally different route. A SCENIC ROUTE.

But one that was much faster.

4. While traveling, we just couldn't believe this device (controlled by a satellite 12,000 thousands miles in the air), could possibly know MORE THAN US about a community we have lived in for years.

We decided to test it out and turn the opposite way it had told us. Immediately after we turned, the device began RECALCULATING an alternative route that would take us to the destination we entered.

5. Once we arrived, we pulled aside to enter in a new destination, when suddenly, the device shouted out, "LOST SIGNAL." We discovered that our GPS will lose its signal whenever it has not been PROPERLY CHARGED. Considering we took it right out the box, we had to return home on our own.

Once we arrived back home, we realized something. Our GPS and The Holy Spirit have a lot in common. The lessons we learned unveiled the very way God desires to direct our lives every day.

The Holy Spirit is an incredible guide. One that is ready and willing to show us the path we are to follow in order to reach every predetermined destination God has established for us.

In fact, the only difference we discovered between our GPS and The Holy Spirit (besides the obvious difference in manufacturing companies), is that we decided to call our GPS...Anne.

The device talked to us so much along the way...we figured we might as well give it a name!

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