I read a story the other day about a boy named George who dreamed of joining the Navy, but his mother, who was a widow raising her children alone, didn’t like the idea. Nevertheless, she put on a brave face and agreed to let him go. The day he was due to sail he hugged her good-bye. In an uncharacteristic show of emotion she started to cry. After enduring so much heartbreak she refused to endure any more. George must not board that ship; instead he must stay and be strong for the rest of the family. The boy in his midshipman’s uniform wanted a Navy career, but not if it meant adding to his mother’s grief. So reluctantly he returned his uniform and ordered his belongings off the ship. Of all the young men who might have left home in search of adventure and didn’t, he was just one more. Yet his decision had profound influence on the Revolutionary War. A mother’s eleventh-hour anxiety prevented her fifteen-year-old from ascending the ranks of the British Navy and embarking on an adventure very different from the one for which he eventually became famous. That’s because the boy’s name was George Washington, first president of the United States of America.

Sometimes we make plans but they get interrupted due to some situation or circumstance. We tend to forget what the Good Book says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” Henry Blackaby writes: “We can be deceived into believing we are on the right path, yet be heading the opposite direction from God’s will for our lives. Apart from the guidance of God, we’ll do what makes sense based on our own wisdom. So seek God’s direction, He knows the full ramifications of your choices.”

I believe it is our faith and belief in God that we reject far too often when trying to achieve goals. It is our personal responsibility to allow Him to change our path and reach the destiny He has set. Then we can expect contentment and joy in our life.

What experiences have you had in traveling in the wrong direction and then finally realizing the need to change?