How to Prepare for an Uncertain Future + “Heads Up, Buttercup”
Heads Up, Buttercup.
Earlier this week, I thought, “Wow. I wish I had been given a “heads up” for that,” after a particular conversation.”
Over and over, I thought, “If only someone had given me a little forewarning.” But no one had. The conversation punched me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of my lungs. It flattened me. It was about 24 hours before I felt like I could breathe again. Slowly, the breath came back into my lungs, and I felt partially recovered from the blow for which I had no “heads up.”
That’s how life is sometimes. BAM. POW. Life “socks us in the gut,” and leaves us gasping for air. Life can, in an instant, knock the wind out of our sails. There are generally no forewarnings for what’s about to transpire. Life rarely gives you a “heads up”.
As I have thought about this lack of a heads up, a question has been surfacing in my mind:
HOW CAN WE PREPARE FOR WHAT WE DON’T KNOW IS COMING?
The FIRST thing that comes to mind is that the Word of God DOES give us a “heads up.” While the Bible cannot tell us individually how the moments of our lives will play out, it does very plainly declare some of the realities of life in this world. It promises a combination of both beauty and brokenness. It promises a mixture of both joy and sorrow. It contains a “heads up” on many things:
· TROUBLE. Jesus said, “In this world, you WILL HAVE tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcomer the world.” JN 16:33
· OFFENSES. Jesus also said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come.”
· TRIALS. Peter wrote, “…think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.
· ACCUSATIONS IN OUR MINDS. Rev. 12:10 says that “ the accuser of the brethren accuses us before the throne of God day and night.”
· DEATH. “It is appointed unto man once to die.” Heb. 9:27
· PERSECUTION. “They shall lay their hands on you and persecute you….for my name’s sake."
Wow. That is a cheery list. 😉 I could go on, but just wanted to remind myself that Jesus DID very plainly lay out a “heads up” in His Word. He clearly told Christians that they would not be immune from the challenges and realities of a fallen world.
He didn’t JUST promise pain, but He also promised joy and beauty and hope in the middle of any challenge we may have to face. When life gut-punches us, and some unexpected scenario, some diagnosis, some unforeseen circumstance, some announcement leaves us reeling and shaken to our core, we can recall that, yes, Jesus promised pain. But, we can also recall his promises of remaining CLOSE in that pain. He gave us a “heads up” on that, too:
HE IS WITH US. “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” MT 28:20
· HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” HEB 13:5
· PEACE. “Peace I leave with you, my peace give I unto you…” JN 14:27
· PROTECTION. “The angel of the LORD encamps round about them that fear him…”. PS 34:7
· HEALING FOR BROKEN HEARTS. “He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.” PS 147:3
· DAILY MERCIES. “This I recall to mind. Therefore, have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed…. they are new every morning.” Lamentations 3:21-22
The SECOND thing that comes to my mind as I ask, “HOW CAN YOU PREPARE FOR WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW IS COMING?” is really the same as the first thing. (SURPRISE. 🙂) The second thing is : get to know the Word of God. File it away in your heart for future reference. Invest it in your heart for future withdrawals. Life will be slightly less shocking when you KNOW that Jesus promised pain. Trials will be more bearable, if only slightly, when you can pull out a promise at a moment’s notice. (It is hard to stand on promises you don’t know!) The Word of God will sustain you in famine. It will wrap a broken soul. Its Words will speak comfort in prison cells, hospital rooms, and any other place for which you had no “heads up”. It will whisper hope in the dark. It will dry tears and catch tears. The Word of God is balm to soak pieces of broken souls in. It encaptures all the virtue of the One Who spoke it and inspired its writing. The Word of God is a Best Friend in loneliness. It reminds us that Jesus knows…that He, too, was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
The Bible speaks HOPE and boldly declares that “weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” The best way to prepare for what you don’t know is coming is to GET TO KNOW the WORD OF GOD. Become acquainted with its nooks and crannies. Get in it, until it saturates and permeates your heart. Search it out until it is the essence of who you are. The Word of God will keep and preserve you through the details of your future for which you have no “heads up”. 😊
The third thing is the same as the first and second: Get to know the Word of God. Live by its principles.
· LIVE DEBT FREE. “The borrower is slave to the lender”. (Pro 22:7)
· RELEASE ANGER. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath”. (Eph 4:26)
· SOW ‘GOOD SEEDS.’ “Whatsoever a man soweth (plants), that shall he also reap”. (GAL 6:7)
· LIVE and GIVE GENEROUSLY. “Give and it shall be given unto you….” (Lk 6:38) “He that has pity on the poor lendeth to the LORD.” (Pro 19:17)
James wrote that it is not enough just to “know” the Word, but that we must DO the Word. (James 1:22). When we act upon the Word of God and live in obedience to Its principles, we will be more prepared to face the unforeseen moments of life. The seeds of obedience that we sow now are preparation for announcements that come with no “heads-up”.
The FOURTH thing is really similar to ONE, TWO, and THREE: ..get to know Jesus. We get to know Him in His presence, in the black & white pages of His Word, and in observation of the world He created around us. We get to know Him when we intentionally discipline ourselves to carve out time to sit with and seek Him. We get to know Him when we converse with Him by faith with real words through-out our moments and days. We get to know Him when we daily share the deep places of our souls with unfiltered honesty, and in return find that the brokenness there draw Him and does not repel Him. We get to know His heart as He walks with us through all the unexpected highs and lows of life. It is these experiences that settle us and sink us down into His unshakable love.
David knew God, and David said this: “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory” and the One who LIFTS UP MY HEAD. (PS 3:3)
When life gives no “heads-up”, He will lift your head! When circumstances “wind” you and leave you reeling, you will find Him close…you will find Him near. You will learn that HE will give you a “heads-up”.
Just a few random thoughts.
“Heads-up, Buttercup”!