Today we complete our second week of our “Advent Adventure.” I hope you are tracking with me as I go through my jungle training course, but I also hope you are grasping how to trust God in every circumstance.
After six weeks at the main base camp, the staff helped us plan for the second phase of training: Advance Base. During the next six weeks, my partner and I would move deeper into the jungle, and we’d construct our own champa (shelter), beds, a latrine, and a mud stove. Linda and I would also go on a survival hike.
Each of us was allowed one 88# duffle bag, 10 straw mats, one jungle hammock and a cook kit. We needed to place our food orders for those next six weeks. There would be no grocery stores nearby. We also had to divide everything we planned to take into “priority” (carried in our backpacks) and “non-priority” (carried in the duffle by a mule). Even our food supplies had to fit into these categories. After we had crammed our duffle full, Linda noticed the wood stool she had made in carpentry class. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a stool to sit on in our new place?”
We quickly unpacked the non-priority duffle and calculated how much we would need to cut off each leg in order to fit the diameter of the stool into the duffle bag. Sure enough, it fit!
When Jesus left heaven and came to earth, he had no duffle bag to sort into priority items and non-priority. He didn’t even arrive with a high priority diaper! Yet he offered us all the riches of Heaven. Luke 10:38-42 tells us that Jesus had different priorities than his friend Martha who needed help in the kitchen. “Only a few things are necessary, really only one thing; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
What are your top priorities for today? Is there room in your plan for God to interrupt your schedule and use you for His priorities?
