Be Prepared

In 1995 Scott O’Grady’s F-16 fighter jet was shot down over Bosnia. It would be six days before American forces were able to rescue him, so O’Grady had to survive in enemy territory for almost a week. He had no rations or supplies, yet he was able to get through until his allies came to his rescue. The reason O’Grady was able to survive this trial in his life is simply that he was prepared. 

Anyone who has worn the uniform knows Uncle Sam trains people for every situation, including the art of survival. The military doesn’t just hope for the best, they train for the worst. They realize that danger is a very real possibility, and they do not want a single soldier caught off guard. Everyone who serves understands that trials and hardships come with the territory. 

Why do we think the Christian life should be any different? Trials will surely come. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” We love the promise that Jesus has overcome the world, but we often ignore the part where we will have tribulation in life. Peter found it odd that some Christians were ill prepared for these trials. He wrote, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you (I Peter 4:12).”

Unfortunately it seems that Christians still think trials are “some strange thing” that isn’t supposed to happen. Many have been deceived by ear-pleasing preachers who tell them to simply live for God and have faith, and God will make sure everything goes their way. Some have subconsciously developed a theology that tells them as long as they live right, say their prayers, go to church, and tithe, then they should expect nothing but good things from God; only sinners go through trials.

This way of thinking causes believers to be blindsided when trials do come. They begin to doubt God, wondering how in the world He could have allowed the hardship. While this column does not seek to explain all the reasons why God allows them, it is a reminder that He does. We need to be prepared for the trials of life because they can come without warning. And yet, we have been warned. In this world we will have tribulation. 

If Scott O’Grady could survive behind enemy lines because of his preparation, then we can survive the trials that life throws at us. Our preparation should include daily time with God through prayer and Bible study, maturing in the faith so that we are not misled, and growing in our relationship with the Father. If we are close to God when the trials come, we will be much better prepared to endure them.     

The Sun and Moon

Which is bigger—the sun or the moon? I’m sure you know the answer: the sun is much larger than the moon. But let me ask you another question. How did you know that? You would not come to that conclusion with the naked eye because the moon often appears to be larger than the sun. This is a fact we have learned in school as a result of science. 

The moon is big. It has a diameter of more than 2,100 miles, making it about twenty-five percent of the Earth’s diameter. While the moon is big, it is dwarfed by the sun, which has a diameter of almost 865,000 miles. Our sun is so massive that if it were a cookie jar and the moon were cookies, it could hold 6 million moons! 

When Moses was writing down the history of how God created the world, he described the fourth day in this manner: “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also (Genesis 1:16).” I cannot help but wonder how Moses knew the sun was larger than the moon. In the book Exploring Genesis, John Phillips wrote, “Ordinary observation would lead to the opposite conclusion. We have all seen the giant harvest moon, seemingly eight feet in diameter, hovering over the skyline, dominating the evening sky. We have never seen the sun look as large as that. Ancient peoples thought the moon was far greater than the sun, and accounted for its lack of light and heat, as compared with the sun, by assuming it was very much farther away from the earth than the sun.” 

In truth, the moon appears to be larger than the sun because it is much closer to Earth than the sun is. While the sun is 93 million miles away, the moon is fewer than 240,000 miles away. By the way, the precise location of the sun and moon in relation to the Earth is optimal for life, proving God’s intelligent design of the universe. 

The only way Moses could have known that the sun is larger than the moon is if God told him that was the case. The prevailing thought for thousands of years was the exact opposite, and when the Bible appeared to be incorrect, it was later justified by science. Not only can we trust God’s Word, we can be reminded that we never have to altar our interpretations of it just because the prevailing thoughts today say the Bible is wrong. When there is a contradiction between God’s Word and man’s, just hold on; soon we’ll find out that man was wrong once again, and God is always right.  

Division

I did ok with math when I was in school. I was able to keep up with it until my teacher introduced division; that’s when things began to change. Long division and I never got along. Fortunately I no longer have to worry about taking a math test. I’ve come to learn that division is not just bad when it comes to homework, but to life in general. 

In Luke 10 Jesus visited the house of his friends, siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Jesus was causally talking and teaching everyone in the room, which included Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and hung on His every word. In the other room, Martha was frantically busying herself making arrangements. Food had to be prepared, the kitchen was a dump, and where were all these disciples going to sleep? Exasperated, Martha interrupted Jesus and demanded that He tell Mary to give her a hand with the chores. 

Jesus responded, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things (Luke 10:41).” When we hear that word worried we might think of someone is stressing over the unknown, but it actually has a different meaning. The Greek word means, “part, portion, or division.” Martha was at her wit’s end because her mind was so divided. On the one hand, she no doubt loved Jesus every bit as Mary did and would have loved to sit at Jesus’ feet as well; on the other hand, she knew there was much to take care of around the house. To be fair to Mary, she probably had no problem helping her sister; she wasn’t being lazy, but neither was she divided.

Mary made up her mind that the most important thing she could do in that moment was sit and listen to Jesus. Martha’s mind was divided, and she ended up making the wrong choice. Every day, and especially on Sundays, we have a choice to make. We can worship Jesus in spirit and truth, or we can allow our minds to be divided and focus on a million other things. We can tune out the world in order to pray, sing, study, or serve, or we can allow the things of this world to take center stage in our minds. Have you ever tried to worship and worry at the same time? Can you effectively worship and daydream? If our minds are divided we might as well stop trying to worship because we are wasting our time.

God wants our undivided attention, so we need to set aside time—as well as distractions—and worship Him.