As I write this evening we once again find ourselves facing a big question:  Where will Hurricane Dorian make landfall?  And not only that, but what impact will we face regardless of where it actually hits?  I trust that we will all be spared injury and damage.  Interestingly, yesterday I finished settling up with my insurance company regarding damages inflicted by Hurricane Michael.  I am sure none of us want to go through all that again.  Even though my insurance company was excellent and easy to work with, it was still an interruption that I do not wish to repeat for the rest of my life.

At this point, it appears that we should be spared from the greatest impacts of the approaching storm, but out of an abundance of caution and with horrible memories of what we faced last year, I thought it wise to go ahead and do a few things:  I gave my generator a test run, changed the oil in it, and filled up a couple of gas cans.  When Michael was approaching made a few preparations, but they did not include an early purchase of an alternate power source and as many people came to realize, generators quickly became a hard to find piece of equipment.  Thankfully Chuck came to our rescue at the hardware store and made life so much easier for my family and many other families.  I think about that with much gratitude nearly every time I walk into his place of business.

Looking back at what we faced and being a bit concerned about what we could face again, I am strongly reminded that the time to prepare to face urgent needs is before the fact.  That truth is vitally important not only to what we face in day-to-day life, but most of all in what we face spiritually.  Scripture provides much guidance regarding making our spiritual preparations without delay to face eternity as well as the challenges of life while we are here on earth.  We would all do well to look at our hearts and lives and consider our personal spiritual preparedness; if we realize deficiencies in this area we should make haste to take care of it. 

Another area of preparation that we must not forget is that God is making preparations, too—for those who will commit their lives to Him.  In His familiar conversation with His disciples before His crucifixion, Christ told them that “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2, New International Version).  Although those words were originally addressed to His close followers and friends while He was on earth, the promise extends to us today.  It would be a tragedy for Christ to have a beautiful place prepared for us and we miss out because we failed to make spiritual preparation to be invited into His presence for all eternity. 

As Christ continued to speak He added, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” (verse 3). That is far too generous of a promise to miss out on!

The few preparations that I made before the storm possibly affects us might not be needed, and they might not even be what I need if we are affected.  But God’s Word assures us that now is the time to get spiritually prepared in order to benefit from what He has prepared for us.  In John 14, Christ gave specific instructions about preparing to be with Him:  “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (verse 6).  Simple enough!  Have you made your spiritual preparations by following Christ?