Preparation

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'

-- Luke 14:28-31

Well... so much for that February series idea. I did think of this each weekend but.. just didn't follow through. I wracked my brain as to why I was almost hiding from writing and I realized I had, in this regard, as in many others in my life, over-committed. 

The verse above was a focal point of a recent Bible study I was in. I was immediately surprised by this verse; I thought to myself, "where is that written?"

I am not one who is very good at estimating costs. I do no plan ahead well. I am very easily blown by the winds of the night. I really don't make long-term decisions but ones that seeM wise in the moment. As you can imagine... this leads to a few problems... oh, like career plans, life goals, life-long decisions, hopes, dreams, ambitions.. just to name a few. Regarding this verse, which is usually framed  in its context of a Christian being willing to follow through  in his/her decision to follow Christ, I thought of it in its context and realized... I really didn't think out my decision to become a Christian either. I did not count all it would cost and prepare for the pain and losses it would bring. This is the most important decision I've made, but I didn't think long-term. I realized if I could not even think long-term in this, how was I supposed to make any other decision "estimating the costs"?

I knew that lack of preparation in my life was a bit of a problem, but had never realized how much it would come to hinder me. Jesus says, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10), but we cannot have life abundant without taking a moment to consider what our life is and what we consider God wants it to be.

This is not to say I think everyone needs to have a five year plan, or her life planned from today until they're 80. I don't think everyone needs to know her "calling," or even know what tomorrow will look like; however, there is some long-term planning I think we can all do that will found us in Christ, so that when each challenge or option comes our way, we can know whether it's from Christ or a distraction, whether its true to our core self or against it.

As week after week passed and I had written nothing to this theme I was really looking forward to (the promises of God), I realized I could not just up and write this. With life obligations, work, friendships, and all the other twists and turns, I should have realized I was not going to do an intensive study on the promises of God and write about it each week right after studying it. This was just an unreasonable goal. One of many I make. I can study the promises of God this month and then sift, and reflect, and months from now write on it, but it's not happening all at once - life just doesn't work that way. 

Life takes preparation. This looks different for everyone; for some it's a to-do list, for some it's themes and overarching life goals, for some, it's a detailed calendar, for others just a general idea of their direction; but however you see life (big picture or fine detail), we have to plan according to our character. Nothing just happens, but faithful life abundant is the reason for Christ's existence and is at our fingertips with some cost estimation and long term planning.