Unplanned things happen in life. Just today, at a class I was teaching, one of
the instructors met with car trouble and couldn’t make it to teach her
sessions, so another instructor took her place with a mere half hour to
prepare. Because she had prepared and
practiced the same sessions in the past, she was able to successfully teach
them at a moment’s notice. Life is full
of stories like this, though not all with such a convenient ending. Things come up, and hopefully, somebody will
have what it takes to step into the gap and keep things going smoothly. It is impossible to prepare for every
situation that may arise, but today’s incident illustrated to me the freedom
that prior preparation brings. If you
invest in the present with the future in mind, then when surprises come at you,
you will be much more able to face them with confidence.
In 1 Peter 3:15, we are told to “always be prepared to give
an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.” We don’t know when someone may ask, but it is
our responsibility to be ready at any moment with the answer. As Christians, we have been entrusted with
the truth, and the world needs us to be prepared to give it, not fumbling awkwardly
for some response. We cannot know exactly
what questions will be asked of us, and there will come times that we don’t
have an answer. But if we have
faithfully practiced the truth in our lives before the moment we are put on the
spot, we will be much more prepared to step up with a confident answer – not a
rote recitation of the perfect scripture reference, but a response born out of
experience in God’s Word. This is the
kind of response our world needs, and we must consciously prepare ourselves to
give it.