I wish that I could say after the first week, all trials ceased to exist. In all honesty, we know that is not realistic. Perhaps, instead, I would like to say that I had a perfect attitude every time I faced the trials we experienced during the past two months in Jamaica. I can't say either of those statements is 100% true. However, I can say that my Father is still developing my character, and He is still teaching me, that in every circumstance, my desire should be Christ revealed in me. I want to know Him more in every situation I find myself in rather than being in a perfect situation.
This leads to another nugget of wisdom from Elisabeth Elliot: the concept of God "choosing our curriculum". She uses the analogy of a person going to college and designing their own major. It would be so easy for that person to skip the classes that they deemed to be too hard, unnecessary, or in a subject they did not like. She concludes that at college most people choose a major where an educated expert in their chosen field of study has already selected the classes needed for that college student to succeed in their future career. That chairperson knows the hard classes and right materials that will benefit that student in the future.
Elisabeth Elliot continued to say how in life there are many lessons that we go through that, if we had the choice, we would skip.However, she challenges her readers to allow God to choose their curriculum. God is sovereign over all things and knows the lessons that we need today to prepare us for what He has for us tomorrow.
(Marion Jacobs is a good friend, a current Jamaican YWAMer with a heart for the Deaf,
who become our advocate during the process.)
This concept has really resonated in my heart. “Jesus, I let you choose my curriculum” was my prayer throughout the week when we went through the trials of visa endorsement and my dental problems while I was still sick from a virus. I was raw honest with God, sharing that I did not want to learn these lessons! If it was up to me, I would skip them all together, but I told God, "I choose to let you select my curriculum." My friends on base became familiar with that phrase as I would say it when I passed them or when I was in a prayer meeting with them. I used it often!
I can't say exactly what the future holds, but now looking back at those trials, I can see some beneficial lessons that we have learned during those times that, if it had been up to me, I would have skipped. As Dan's endorsement for his visa was denied, we had to write multiple letters to two different government agencies using language that is foreign to me but required in the Jamaican government. If there is ever a problem with future students' or staffs' visas, we have these letters saved with addresses and names that can be quickly adapted for different circumstances. I, Carole, also personally went to both of the governmental places of work in Kingston, experiencing the location and seeing faces of the workers. This will be helpful if we ever have to go through this process again with other staff.
To be honest, if I was designing my own curriculum here in Jamaica, I would have chosen to skip being denied a visa endorsement. It is a good thing God chooses our lessons! Through this experience, we not only gained some tools in our tool belt, but also experienced, with all of you, a supernatural move of God that has increased our faith for what we are called here to do and all that God wants to do in the future.
Once again I want to end with this powerful secret that I am learning in this transition. The truth I seek is not found in me being in a familiar spot or me not having my Visa denied. A peaceful heart is not found in a set of different circumstances. The secret, instead, is found as Christ is revealed in me in each one of those circumstances and the fruit and character that is being developed in me as I allow Christ to reign and govern every circumstance I face. This is my prayer as we continue our transition here in Jamaica; this is my prayer for my children; this is my prayer as a family. I pray we would not be a family that chooses to ask God to remove our circumstances that He has wisely planned for us, but that we would instead be a family praying for Christ's revelation and wisdom in every circumstance we face.
Is there a situation that you are in that you wish you could skip? Allow God to change your perspective and ask Him to reveal Himself through you trial. If you do, be prepared to see all that He does in your heart and mind.
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