Scouting trip gone wrong (gone right?)

Last summer, we scouted a wilderness area called Wapiabi that we hadn't used in a long time. Our purpose was to determine if this venue would be an ideal environment for an upcoming backpacking group. Most of us on the scout had never seen this area, and none of us had explored as deep as we intended to go. We were looking for exciting landmarks, adequate campsites for our large group size, & a way to string it all together into a cohesive experience. It became apparent quickly that this would be an adventure-filled day.

The first & greatest challenge were the numerous river crossings we had to traverse. We found shallow spots, and crossed in our bare feet or high tech waterproof boots. Pathfinding was also a fun puzzle, as we weaved through various horse-trails & eroding cliffsides, occasionally bushwhacking through dense evergreen forest after a supposed trail petered out. We found a good campsite on the edge of a massive beaver dam system. I'm unfamiliar with beavers, so I'd never seen anything like it. They had diverted a massive portion of the river & completely reshaped the ecosystem by capturing massive pools of water in descending levels of dams.

We set up our campsite, dropped gear to lighten the load, & pushed further back into the wilderness area towards a lake. We hoped it could function as a cool objective to reach after a bigger summit hike day. The river crossings quickly multiplied, as did our numbers of soaked through boots & wet feet. When we arrived at the edge of the lake, we realized all our walking was to be rewarded with a gross, algae filled, dark & murky valley lake rather than the beautiful & refreshing alpine blue that we had hoped for. It was decidedly, totally, not worth it.

This hopeful scout had revealed that this wilderness area, while novel to us as programmers, simply paled in comparison to the beauty and possibilities available to us in our typical haunts. We all agreed that the technical difficulty of the 10 or so river crossings, combined with the mundane normality of the objectives we had access to, did not make a group's trip worth it. We returned to our campsite, packed up, & hiked out. It kind of felt like a failure.

I think activity in life can feel this way sometimes. I've set my heart on tasks & goals, grinded through a personal "wilderness", & come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it. I thought I wanted one career, I invested my time & energy into a relationship, all to realize that a job, a person, a place, were not what God had for me in the long term. The emotional response is a kind of grief or disillusioned anger. "What a waste!"

However, in the case of this short wilderness trip, we had actually accomplished our goal. The point of a scout is not to confirm the preconceived plan, but to test if the location is suitable to our goals. We didn't fail; we succeeded in discovering that a different location is better suited to cultivate the environment necessary for God's work. I'm trying to look back on my life as a series of venue scouting trips, not full of failures, but full of successful discovery. God himself would agree:

I believe God is the ultimate leader. "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him," no bushwhacking wasted nor exploration unfruitful in lives lived in repentance. Just like I use the experiences in the wilderness to lead people to Christ, he uses the challenges & wanderings of our personal lives to lead us to himself. I've learned through pursuing a career ambitiously the self-destructive & near-sighted nature of my prideful heart. In relationships, I've seen the worst sides of myself and the depth of my insecurity. In all my striving to righteousness, I know now that to define myself by what I do is an empty pursuit. He's cultivated every environment in my life to produce in me a lesson I couldn't have understood without his facilitation.

In every area of my life, I need Jesus.

I need him personally, I need his power, I need his goodness, I need his rest. Through all these life "scouting trips", I've come to know myself & God better than if I walked a straight path directly to where I am now. This is how God teaches me. Maybe this is how he teaches you too.

That venue scout in Wapiabi helped us decide on a different location for our backpacking trip with Gull Lake. When we led the students along the Whitegoat trail, it was clear that this was the perfect environment for our goals. The students experienced stunning views, a challenging yet clear trail, & plenty of opportunity to go deeper in their faith through conversation, bible study, & debriefs. It was a fruitful time in an ideal environment, made possible through an (un)successful exploration into another wilderness.

I hope you can embrace exploration in your life, trusting in a God who is leading you in unexpected ways. As the preacher writes in Ecclesiastes 11:

¹Ship your grain across the sea;
    after many days you may receive a return.
² Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
    you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,
    or how the body is formed^[a] in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

Grace be with you!
Alex