Survival 101

In preparing to take the boys camping I have been reading up online about survival techniques such as “what to do if you are lost in the woods.” Every article makes some kind of reference to staying where you are and letting others find you. You can make a signal fire, try and build a shelter, but every article I read said to stay put.

When you get disoriented your blood pressure and heart rate go up, and there is this huge urge to do something: run, hike, climb, swim!; you just want to feel like you are making some kind of progress. Most of the time people use up valuable resources, energy, and precious mental fortitude with nothing to gain from it.

Let’s face it, we all get over whelmed and turned around from time to time, and the best thing to do until we are able to get our bearings is to sit still and stay where we are. The Bible even says in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. . .” But it such a powerful instinct to do something.

We also live in a land where there is a constant pressure to be the best,; (in my world it’s have the largest growing church, the most baptisms, the “success story.”) So we push and push, drive and drive, and always stay on the go. I hate to be still and wait – it feels like the world passes you by and those “other guys” are getting ahead.

While you are waiting out there in the forest doing your best to suppress the desire to do something for the sake of doing something, you are also trusting that someone is coming to get you. In order to survive you have to be still and trust others. As if sitting still were not hard enough now we have to put our lives in the hands of other people.

As a leader I put my success and future in the hands of others every day. I have to trust that while I can’t see them, they are working hard to make our team successful. Also, leaders have to wait until those that follow them come along to where they are. If they go too far ahead they get lost, if they stay too close they remain at base camp forever and never move to the summit.

There are seasons of great leaps forward, and there are seasons of sitting still. So in my life right now, I am trying my best to sit still and I am waiting. Grab a log and join me, and let’s make some coffee (there I go doing something again).

About the author

Drew Boswell wrote 813 articles on this blog.

Dr. Drew Boswell has been in ministry for over twenty years, is a husband, father, pastor, and friend.

• Blog