How to Prepare for Anything
A few years ago, someone told me I was a good planner. It made me laugh as I thought of all the many disastrous times I had failed to think ahead. But after years of raising four kids, maybe planning had become a survival skill I had slowly honed without realizing it.
I was trained by failure. Failure to plan well while child-rearing meant everything from missed opportunities, like when I mixed up the date of an important performance, to rough first weeks of school, to more serious problems like dehydration from not packing water on a long, hot bike ride.
Preparing is wise – like when farmers harvest and store crops to supply meals for the long winter. It is a small way to emulate God, the legendary planner. Plus, since He designed us with a frontal lobe in our brains that specializes in higher-level planning and reasoning, I am sure He intended for us to use it.
Thinking ahead and taking steps to prepare can result in simple comfort, smooth sailing, or even survival. One time, I was able to keep my son from choking to death on pizza cheese because I had taken a first aid course as a new parent.
Being prepared paid off in that scary situation and probably reinforced my naive belief that good planning could control outcomes. As the kids grew, I found myself planning, not out of wisdom and prudence but to reduce anxiety about the future. But then some “rogue waves” hit, and I learned that there was nothing practical I could do to prepare for those unanticipated and unwanted events that came seemingly out of nowhere.
Five such waves struck without warning this year, beginning with a scary post office incident in January and ending with the death of a family member this month. As these waves tossed me about, I was reminded of when I learned to surf. The guide took my family out past a reef, where the waves were cresting, far from shore. Somehow, I caught the first one and rode it a long way. But when I tried to get back on the board and return to the group, I kept getting knocked down by new waves before I could even turn the board to face them.
By the time the third one pounded me underwater, I was running out of breath. I wondered how many more times I could go under before I was out of steam. Then, as I attempted to climb up again, a surfer came over a wave unexpectedly, hitting my side and knocking more air out of my lungs. What kept me from panicking was years of experience in the water and the knowledge that panicking often meant drowning.
Similarly, as another crisis bore down on me this year, a double punch of two family members hospitalized in a week, I felt surprised at how well I maintained equilibrium. I was struggling to catch my breath, but I felt a stillness in my soul. Reflecting on how that was possible, I realized it could only be credited to years of experience with God. Peace came because my heart had been prepared in advance through Christ. He had walked me through countless scary situations, and I had grown to trust Him deeply. God alone kept me from drowning in despair and fear as the waves kept pushing me down.
Jesus put it this way when He visited his friends Mary and Martha: we worry about many things, but only one thing matters.
When we think about and try to plan and prepare for the future, it is easy to forget that God is already there for His people. We can plan on it. Leaving behind our self-reliance and over-trust in human resources and instead relying on God allows us to experience miraculous peace in our souls through the work and power of Christ, even when stormy seas seem to engulf us.
Such trust does not guarantee a life of ease, physical comfort, or financial security. It is not insurance against heartache, suffering, loss, or even death. It does not spare us from the emotions of fear, sadness, regret, and even anguish that naturally accompany daunting waves. But knowing God and remaining in Him stabilizes, strengthens, and sustains at the deepest core of one’s being, even when unexpected and unwanted things occur. He restores our souls, and He planned it all in advance.
God knew ahead of time what waves would hit me this year. He planned to be with me in them and prepared me to trust Him when I was powerless. I have no doubt He calmed the seas in which I swam, easing the power and force of each wave, maybe even re-directing some. Planning is His forte. He planned so far ahead for humanity that He knew us before He created the world. His plans always come to fruition, and they are not short-sighted, ill-informed, or foolish like mine often are.
Without a doubt, God designed us to use forethought and wisdom during our earthly lives, and being a good planner has temporal benefits. But above all, I believe He wants us to focus more on eternity than retirement, on Jesus and not presidential candidates, and on our spiritual fitness above our exercise routines. Focusing our soul's gaze squarely on Christ is the only preparation that matters. Joining the One who planned the future as far out as eternity is the best way to prepare for any wave that comes, no matter how big, scary, or unexpected.
“He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” – 2 Corinthians 5:5
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:30-42
*Cover image by Hakon Grimstad on Unsplash