Faithfully Prepared

“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Proverbs 27:12 NLT).

“Then Jesus asked them, ‘When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?’ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘But now,’ he said, ‘take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one!’” (Luke 22:35–36 NLT).

There’s a story about an impending flood that was expected to hit a small town. The call went out to everyone living there to evacuate. Initially, a good number of people ignored the call and went about their usual routines. As the flood became imminent, some of the townsfolk who had already relocated took it upon themselves to drive through the town and urge their neighbors to leave at once.

This time, many went as directed. However, one man in particular told his concerned neighbors that he had no interest in leaving because he had faith that God would protect him. 

The flood finally hit. As water gushed through the streets, a few more former residents employed boats to go through as much of the town as they could to rescue any who were still there. Seeing the same man through the second story window of his home, one such boat approached. Those on the boat urged that man to leave with them before it was too late. Refusing their offer, the man confidently stated that he would not go with them because he had faith that God would protect him.

By the next day the flood waters had risen dramatically. Fearing the worst, one wealthy member of the town and good friend of the man who stayed behind, flew his personal helicopter to the man’s home. Finding him now on his roof, he hovered above and pleaded with him to get aboard the helicopter. Yet again, the man responded that he had faith that God would protect him and so he was going to stay put.

Not long after this last attempt to rescue the man, he drowned to death. Meeting God, he said, “God, I thought that you would always protect me? Why did you let me drown?” God answered, “Well, I sent a car, a boat, and a helicopter . . . .”

I think you get the moral of the story.

Many of us take measures to prepare—to the extent we are able—for challenges or dangers that the future may hold. However, I have encountered people who interpret a life of faith to mean there is no need to take any such precaution and even that to do so is a violation of one’s trust in God. Sometimes, planning ahead in this way is conceived of as an expression of fear, which the Bible often points to as the antithesis of faith.

To be fair, there are surely those who are so consumed with the prospect of future trouble and a desire to survive that they end up living a distorted form of life. This may especially be so when the perceived need for survival begins to encroach on the proper duty to demonstrate love for one’s neighbor.

Moreover, there are times when God may call us to forego the normal concerns surrounding our well-being. For example, Jesus casted discipleship as a supreme priority—as being infinitely more important than one’s personal security, which might very well be jeopardized by following him (see Matthew 10:39 and Luke 17:33). And prior to his death and resurrection, Jesus initially sent out a group of disciples to proclaim the good news of the coming kingdom of God throughout Israel, instructing them not to take the typical provisions one would bring for a mission as this (see Matthew 10:9–10 and Luke 10:1–4).

But we would be remiss if we fail to understand here that what gives both the willingness for self-sacrifice and the exceptional exercise of radical faith in God’s sovereign power to provide significance is the greater good they achieve in light of the more basic, God-given call to be responsible stewards of the lives with which we have been entrusted—our own, those immediately under our care, and, yes, our neighbor too.  

Indeed, in the story above it is only the man who ended up dying due to his senseless disregard for his own safety. But in real life it is more often the case that others are directly impacted by the precautions we take—or do not take—to be reasonably safeguarded as we look toward a potentially threatening future, this side of the final restoration of all creation. As such, we do well by being faithfully prepared.