Life Happens Without Warning

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.

Matthew 25:1-10

Anyone who has experienced Texas weather can well appreciate its common assessment: “If you don’t like it wait five minutes.”

Thunderstorms can blow up seemingly out of nowhere.

Winds can suddenly blow strong enough to pop windows out of their framing.

In the early spring days can start cold and end hot. In late fall they can start cold and end colder. About the only predictable season is summer—then the weather is just hot!

The smart individual keeps a windbreaker close at hand most of the year, and sometimes even an umbrella. The smart individual understands that the weather is subject to change, is almost sure to change, and makes preparation to adapt to that change. The smart individual does not know when the weather will change, just that it will change.

Yet even those who do not contend with Texas weather are faced with the reality that life is unpredictable. We do not know when tragedy will strike, nor do we know when triumph will be ours. We do not know which days will be good and which days will be bad. We do not know when our faith will be challenged and when our faith will be rewarded.

What we do know, if we but think for just a moment, is that there will be tragedy, and there will be triumph. What we do know, if we but think for just a moment, is that there will be good days and bad. What we do know, if we but think for just a moment, is that our faith will be challenged and rewarded.

If we have any life experience at all, we know these things are going to happen—we just do not know when.

Jesus tells us this lack of foreknowledge extends even to the End Times. We might know that this age of man—like all eras and epochs—will end, but we do not know when or even how.

We know that all empires eventually crumble and fall, and so eventually the United States and its global hegemony will eventually crumble and fall, but we do not know when.

What would you do if tomorrow the United States ceased to exist as an organized country?

What would you do if tomorrow you found yourself in the middle of a flash flood, or perhaps an earthquake?

What would you have done if the recent solar storm wreaked havoc with power grids and telecommunications?

These things have not happened—yet. The United States still exists as an organized country. You did not get inundated in a flash flood or caught in an earthquake. The recent solar storm did not massively disrupt power grids and telecommunications.

Yet they might happen. Eventually, they almost surely will happen. What will you do then?

In both the Old and New Testament, the Bible repeatedly encourages us to give all worry and care to God. Indeed, I have heard many street preachers proclaim that God will take care of everything, if we will but trust completely in Him.

Yet this is not entirely true.

I trust God will provide—but I still have to shop for groceries and prepare my meals. I still have to make sure I pay my rent and all my other bills.

I trust God will provide—but I still have to show up for work each day.

I trust God will provide—but I still am well advised to keep a store of savings against the uncertainties of tomorrow.

As Jesus illustrates in His parable of the ten maidens, God expects us to be prepared. Take oil for the lamp. Save and husband your resources, so that you have options when the unexpected occurs. As the Boy Scout motto says, “be prepared.”

Yet how can we put all trust in God if we are also expected to save and husband resources against an unknown future?

How can I place my faith in God while also pondering what I need to save and what I need to keep handy? If I am saving and being prepared for whatever may happen next, am I not putting my faith in myself and not God?

In Luke 9, when Jesus sends His disciples to preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick, He tells them to take nothing for the journey—”no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.” He told His disciples to make no preparation for their journey, but we are expected to be prepared?

How do we be prepared for whatever may come and put all trust in God?

I believe a big part of the answer lies in Deuteronomy 6:16, where God commands the Israelites not to put Him to the test. We are not to command God to do anything, or invoke His name for our own selfish purposes. God is not here to serve us, we are here to serve Him.

Faith is not meant as a dodge to our own responsibility to ourselves. Faith does not relieve us from the daily requirement of actually living our lives with passion and purpose.

What we are able to do to care for ourselves, God expects us to do. God expects us to take care of ourselves and those around us to the very limit of our ability. For all that which is beyond our control, we are to trust in God.

Life happens without warning, but life is also to be lived. We are called to act, to do what is right in every situation. We are not called to be passive, but active and assertive. If we are to be God’s light to the world we must be extremely active and never passive.

We should pray always. We should pray for peace of mind and calmness of spirit, that we may make good choices and good decisions. We should practice a prayerful mindfulness that we might avoid the pitfalls of fear and doubt about anything.

Yet we should also gather together all that we need to be able to act. As we are called to step up in every situation, we should keep with us the tools we will need to actually step up. At the very least we should have some money save back, have a windbreaker and perhaps an umbrella when the sky looks threatening. We should budget our time and our money, so that we have plenty of both for whenever life should happen.

All the while, we must pray and trust that God will reward our efforts and our preparations with whatever destiny He has decreed for each of us.

God calls us to live successfully. God calls us to live powerfully and passionately. God calls us to live with purpose and conviction. We cannot live successfully, nor powerfully, nor passionately, nor with purpose and conviction if we do not prepare where we can. The more we husband our resources and plan all that we do, the more we can respond to whatever challenge life might throw at us.

We should have faith that if God calls us to a certain task, if we apply ourselves to that task we will be successful.

We should have faith that God will not call us to a task only to have us stumble and fall.

We should have faith that God will reward our diligence and our devotion. Our portion is always to do. God’s portion is to deliver whatever outcome He has decreed for our efforts.

Life happens without warning. We never know when or how life will happen. We must therefore be prepared and watchful, that we may embrace life whenever it happens. If we do that much, God will do the rest.