One hot summer’s day in Florida, my brother-in-law and I decided to go for a swim in the ocean. We were floating along on the waves, enjoying our time, and taking it easy. After relaxing and soaking up the sun, we looked back to the shore to see what everyone else in our family was doing. We scanned the beach up and down, but our campsite and family had vanished. Confused, we thought maybe something had happened—like in the movies when people just disappear. But then, as we looked down the beach, we spotted them way off in the distance. I wondered why they had moved our camp so far down the shoreline. Then the realization hit me that they had not moved our campsite; we had drifted halfway down the beach without knowing it. We had no idea the current had carried us so far away. 

It is easy to get off course and mission drift when we do not recalibrate our faith daily. Government official Paul Nitze said, “One of the most dangerous forms of human error is forgetting what one is trying to achieve.” Have you ever noticed that wherever your eyes are looking is where you begin to drift? I am notorious for this phenomenon—especially while driving. When I fix my eyes on something other than the road ahead, I always start to stray toward the object I’m looking at. Thankfully, my wife is quick to remind me by shouting “John!” which I now know is code for “Look out!”

Life is a journey, and if we take our eyes off our mission, we will drift. We have to keep our “blinders” on, not allowing distractions to draw us in and derail our purpose. A perfect example can be found in Homer’s classic “The Odyssey.” In this tale, Sirens were island creatures who would lure sailors with their music and enchantment. While fixated on the Sirens, the sailors would carelessly wreck their ships on the rocky coast, bringing about their destruction. We must keep our eyes on the prize and press on in our mission, or we will become like these sailors whose mission drifted. 

Proverbs 4:25-27

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

King Solomon knew his purpose when he wrote this Proverb. He was warning us about the dangers of mission drift. We can get lazy and lose our focus in life if we are not intentional about our purpose. The more distracted we get, the more discontent we will become. Discontentment and discouragement occur when we are not fulfilling our God-given mission.