Always be prepared
Two cultures & unpredictability
Life is unpredictable.
This is a reality we can surely all agree on. How we deal with that reality, however, varies.
North American culture tends to highly value being prepared. It’s even the famous Scouts motto! We strive to prevent problems through advance planning. We have insurance for everything, risk mitigation plans, and security galore. We see preventive medicine as responsible. We run emergency drills and tests. We even plan for the end of our lives with wills.
But many other cultures don’t see things the same way. Their response to the reality that life is unpredictable is to decide advance planning and specific preparation isn’t very helpful. After all, why spend so much time and money on preparing for something that may never happen—or if it does, won’t happen in the exact way you prepared for? It is better to be adaptable and resourceful than pre-planned.
Now, it isn’t fair to say that one of these groups is prepared and the other one isn’t. The latter group simply sees the value in preparing the person rather than a plan.
The trap of control
Both of these tendencies have strengths and weaknesses. As someone who leans strongly toward the pre-planning type of preparedness, my biggest struggle is that I too often fall into the trap of seeing preparedness as a form of control that I can exert over the unpredictability of life.
I tend to believe that if I can just develop realistic expectations, I’ll know what to prepare for, and I won’t be caught off guard. If I can just prepare hard enough, and widely enough, maybe I can prevent crises from happening in the first place. I can protect myself, making my life safe and comfortable.
But this simply isn’t true.
The preparations can and will help, but I must still expect the rug to be pulled out from under my feet in ways I never could have predicted. I must still expect to struggle and fail. I must still expect bad things to happen to me and to people I love.
Why? Because I cannot control everything.
If I try to control my life by predicting and preparing for every possible outcome, it will only lead to despair when something happens that I did not prepare for, or when my preparations aren’t good enough.
But oh, the hope we have as a firm foundation! Even though I cannot control everything, I can rest in the confidence that God does.
What I cannot predict, he already knows.
What I do not know to prepare for, he has already been working behind the scenes.
What I cannot prevent, he will sustain me through.
We find God there
It is tough to grapple with the reality that God does not always allow us to avoid pain and suffering. Though he promises protection, deliverance, and rescue, we see over and over again in Scripture that this protection is often in the midst of the lions, the deliverance is through the sea, and the rescue is out of prison.
First we find ourselves in these places of suffering—then we encounter him there.
For his greatest promise of all is to be with us. Imagine, the creator of the universe present in our pain! Not only does he provide the grace to sustain us, he stays with us through every shaky breath.
Exchanging fear for trust
As I look towards a life of serving in a remote mountain community in Mexico, there has been so much to prepare for. Yet, the more I read, the more I learn, the more wisdom I receive from those who have “been there, done that,” the more I am tempted to be overwhelmed with a sense of futility in my preparations. I fear that it will never be enough. I hear stories of those who seemed so well-prepared who went to the field and still suffered chaos, still fell into sin, and still came back hurting deeply.
But I need not abandon my preparations. In fact, that would be unwise. Rather, what I ought to fling away is the misguided goal: to prepare my way out of hardship, leaning on my own understanding to be my safety and savior.
May these truths sink deep into my heart: the Lord is sovereign, trustworthy, and good. He masterfully accomplishes his good plans, using even suffering to shape me into the image of Jesus. Why would I try to avoid the very means by which he gives more grace?
The greatest preparation of all is to commit my life to his hands and take comfort in the fact that he is holding me, sustaining me through every moment.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)