I was in Oklahoma City for a conference.  I stayed downtown, but the conference was at a church about 20 minutes away. 

I had gotten up at 4:30 AM to make my early flight out of Columbia.  By the time I got to the hotel, I was ready for a nap, and I had about a two-hour window to squeeze one in.  My room, however, wasn’t ready.  I occupied myself in the lobby catching up on emails and then was paged to the front desk.  My room was ready.  I went up, set my luggage down, and went to the bathroom.  I flushed.  The water rose like the flood of Noah.   

I called the front desk, and they sent up the building engineer, which is a fancy way of describing the hotel handyman.  He tried to use the plunger but couldn’t move the clog.  He got an auger.  No joy.  At this point, he kindly suggested I call the front desk and request another room. 

The clerk was gracious and sent up a bellman with the key to the new room.  By this time, forty-five minutes of my nap time was gone.   

They put me in a room across the hall from my old room.  Finally, I had an opportunity for a nap.  As I lay down, however, I could still hear the plumber working across the hall.  I heard a drill, then the sound of a saw.  I didn’t really want to know what he was doing.  I finally drifted off. 

I had set an alarm, but when it went off, I was so groggy I turned it off and rolled over.  Ten minutes later, I jerked awake.  The conference was going to start in twenty minutes, and I was late.  I got ready in a hurry, got my rental car from the valets, and punched in the address of the host church… or I thought I did. 

I jumped on the expressway, going as fast as I dared.  I had been to this church once before, and the route didn’t look familiar.  But who am I to question Google Maps?  According to the time estimate, I was going to be ten minutes late, but I thought I could still sneak in without causing too much of a disturbance.   

I arrived at the location.  I knew this because Google told me, “Arrived.”  But the building looked different than I remembered.  There were no cars in the parking lot.  I thought, “Everyone must be around back.”  I drove around the parking lot, and there were no signs of life except for two kids shooting hoops on portable goals.  Then it hit me – I was in the wrong place.  The church hosting the conference has multiple locations across Central Oklahoma.  Because of my fat thumb, I had selected the wrong location.  I looked up the right location: seven miles and twenty minutes away.  Now I was going to be very late. 

As I steered back into traffic, heading in the right direction, I was reminded of a powerful saying from Andy Stanley: Direction, not Intention, determines destination.  My intention was to go to one campus of the church, but my direction determined my destination: another campus. 

People intend to improve their marriage and wonder why things aren’t getting better.  Their direction is still away from each other, not toward each other.  They never reach their destination. 

A man intends to be a better father and then wonders why his relationship with his kids still is not good.  He never changed the direction of his behavior, his investment of time, or his listening.  He never reaches his destination. 

I think about Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  When Jesus called them, what if they had said, “Lord, we really want to follow you, but can we just stay here and keep fishing?”  Their direction would not have changed.  They never would have reached the destination of being disciples of Jesus. 

What about Zaccheus?  What if he had said, “Lord, sure, come on by the house, but I’m going to keep my money.”  He would never have reached the destination of generosity. 

I wonder if the reason you might be stuck in your relationship with God is that direction, not intention, determines your destination.  Is God asking you to make a change in direction because he wants you to arrive at a different destination? 

Maybe this is what Jesus was saying when he asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”  Direction, not intention, determines the destination.