Prepared for Action

There’s nothing quite like being completely unprepared for weather.  I’m a meticulous weather watcher when I’m planning a trip.  I look at the 15-day forecast no less than 23 times before I’m scheduled to depart.  Part of that comes from living in Wyoming for 26 years.  Unpredictable weather is a staple on those beautiful plains, so I like to make sure I know what I’m getting myself into.

Last week, I took a trip to Wyoming to spend a couple of days with my daughter and grandson and watch my daughter’s best friend walk across the stage for college graduation.  It was supposed to be a fairly normal spring week with some rain showers.  So imagine my surprise when on Monday afternoon, they announced a winter storm warning.  And not just any winter storm warning.  We were to be blessed with a very heavy, wet snow that would accumulate 5-8 inches.  Really Mother Nature?!

Despite my said meticulous weather watching combined with my many years of Wyoming weather experience, I failed to bring a coat, hat, gloves, a long-sleeved shirt…anything that would protect me from the elements.  That left me with a light sweater over my t-shirt, slogging through slush, wiping 5” of a snow-cocoon off my rental car with a giant plastic bag (since of course the rental car had no scraper).  I really should’ve been better prepared.

We should be prepared the same way when we face surprise trials every day.  Many times we think we know how our day is going to turn out.  We’ve planned our outings, scheduled our meetings, or prepared ourselves for the final we’re taking in English class.  We become so comfortable in what we see or think we know that we find ourselves blind-sided by the devil’s traps he has set for the day.

One way to be ready for those sudden attacks is to have scripture memorized.  By having those verses from the bible committed to memory, we can not only bring them to thought, we can say them out loud.  We can speak Truth over satan’s attempt to weaken us.  Speaking it out loud lets satan know we mean to be doing God’s business for the day, and that he has no place in that moment.  It allows us to stand firm in the Lord and remind ourselves that God’s word is a strengthener for us.

You may want to learn verses for different situations, or maybe it’s just one verse that you hold dear.   Learn it.  Write it down.  Memorize it.  Use it to block those sudden surprises.  Let’s be prepared!

Do you have a go-to verse you use when you’re struggling with a sudden attack?  Share in the comments below!

~Erin