“How did I get here?” Lessons from someone who lost his way

Have you ever looked around and wondered, “How did I get here?”

I’ve been there. Somehow, the tides of life swept me off course and my destination seemed so distant. Perhaps it was because of my inattention to the controls, a lack of focus, or my own disobedience. But in any case, I didn’t want to be “here,” I wanted to be “there.”

It’s a sad experience to look back at that time of wonder and desire, when I had a goal and a destination. I launched my boat in that sacred direction. What happened?


A friend gave this message to me a couple of weeks ago: “Your attention determines your direction which determines your destination.” Those words can never be truer.

Sometimes life just “happens.”  Our first inclination is to blame others. And it’s true, you might be off course because someone else slammed into your boat out of their own confusion and wayward life. It recently happened to me. Waving, yelling, trying to get their attention that they were going the wrong direction didn’t work. They ignored all the warnings and just ran smack into me.

And sometimes things just happen because this is a crazy, sinful world and I got in the way of depravity run amok.

Rather than pine away about where I ended up and who’s to blame,  it’s much healthier to take new readings, find my proper destination and set sail again.


And this time, I’ll stay on course.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Heb 12:2

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