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Jan 09, 2025 06:00am

His Plans > Our Plans

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“I think we’ll go with the waterfall hike with the picnic lunch. That seems nice and not too strenuous.”

We were in Belize and had been given a choice on our excursion for the day. Several seemed difficult, like repelling, white water rafting, and staying out in the jungle for 2 nights, killing your own food. I wasn’t quite up for those extreme adventures, so the waterfall hike seemed like a great option.

In my mind, we would hike through the jungle to see a beautiful waterfall and experience exotic animals, butterflies, and scenery.

Boy, was I wrong.

There were a few hints that this wouldn’t be as laid back and carefree as I had imagined. First, they said we had to wear pants because of the rough terrain. Then, we had to sign waivers.

For a hike to a waterfall?

It gets better.

Our bus pulls up to the jungle’s edge, and there’s a small opening. Chico, one of our guides, gets off the bus with a machete and begins chopping at vines and greenery to clear the way.

Already, it was quite different than what we had imagined. We had walked quite a ways and been warned not to touch the fuzzy caterpillars, or we would die.

The trees thinned, and all of a sudden, we stepped into an opening. I expected to see the great waterfall cascading down the mountainside into a beautiful pool of blue water.

But instead, we saw the opening to a cave.

Julio, our other guide, began handing out hard hats with lights and backpacks with first aid kits and supplies.

Confused, I asked what we were doing and where the waterfall was.

“In there. The hike begins now.”

Again, not how I expected this day to go.

What ensued was nothing like I had ever imagined. We hiked through the cave, crawled through tunnels with bats flying inches from our faces, swam under rock formations to get into other rooms, saw ancient remains of past sacrifices, climbed up rock formations with water spewing in our faces, and reached the top.

Sigh.

This was harder than I could have imagined! We had climbed 5 waterfalls. We weren’t just there to look at them, but to climb up them!

We began looking around at the top of this rock formation for the path that led out of the cave. But, we only saw darkness.

Of course, I had to ask.

“Which way do we go now?”

And with the light on his helmet illuminating the waterfall, he said, “We go back.”

Julio and Chico instructed us on how we were to jump back down the waterfall.

Wait, what? Seriously?

He told us what not to hit on the way down, and he jumped, tucked his little legs to his chest, and yelled, “Cannonball”!

And down he went.

We stared at each other in amazement.

So, we did what any good parent would have done in this situation and made Hunter go first.

We made it back down all those five waterfalls and hiked back to a large opening where Chico had our picnic lunch inside the cave. Silence filled the cavern as we ate because we were all too exhausted to talk.

It was definitely not what I had envisioned a waterfall hike to be.

But it was more than I could have ever dreamed. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Acts 25:1-6
“Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
2, where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.
3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.
5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day, he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.”

The Jewish leaders are still at it. They want Paul killed. Their mission: to be rid of this man for spreading his message about Jesus. Paul’s case was heard from Felix to Festus and eventually Herod Agrippa II.

But there was no proof. There was nothing he could be convicted of. The Roman officials kept sending him up the line, but to no avail.

Paul was a Roman citizen as well as a former Pharisee. When he received the gospel and was changed by Jesus, his mission was to share this good news with Rome.

But it hadn’t quite gone as he expected.

What had Paul envisioned his journey to be like? Did he imagine he’d be welcomed into the Roman cities and given a platform to share the message of Christ? What he desired most was to share the gospel with his people.

He knew the Lord would provide the way if he obeyed.

It just wasn’t as he had thought it would be.

Prison. That was the platform Paul had.

Listen, if it was me or you, would we have been looking at prison as an opportunity for the gospel or been trying to plead our innocence to be released?

Right.

And now, Paul will stand before King Agrippa II.

It was definitely not how he had envisioned a mission to Rome. But it was more than he could have ever dreamed.

How incredible is God?

Our plans are so small and insignificant compared to His. The outcomes are far greater with Him, which has been felt for generations.

Today, let’s stop and thank God for wherever He has us in this moment. Let’s put our plans aside and follow Him with our whole heart. He’s got something greater in store than we can ever imagine.