God has a plan for us ,He has prepared ! Have we?

        
    As I sat in the dark quiet room watching his chest rise and fall and then after what seemed like eternity rise again, I started to think about how precious life was. I started to anticipate when his would be over. I knew it would be a matter of hours, minutes, maybe even seconds, but we never know when until it happens. In between breaths I let my mind wander a little bit back to when I was pregnant with ashley 12 years ago.I was reminded of the similarities between bringing in a new life and saying goodbye to a completed one. I remember looking at the wall  clock every few seconds in anticipation of his last breath. Morbid you say ! Yes totally I kept thinking what is wrong with me !  but as I sat there I couldn't help but compare the similarities. I thought about celebrating the birth of my baby daughter 12 years ago this week  as I was reminded of the anxieties and anticipations that led up to her birth.

             My due date had been changed 3 times with Ashley. Each time adding more time to what already seemed like the longest pregnancy known to man as far as I was concerned. 7 months of being medicated daily for severe morning sickness than spending hours in the hospital on my birthday and then 3 weeks of home healthcare and IV's due to dehydration. So needless to say on that final due to date the anticipation was so high ! I was ready for this baby to breath real air ! I remember when the contractions started I laid on the couch and watch the clock ,praying for the moment when I could say lets go! Much like watching the clock tick on and wonder what second would be his last? I watched his wife lay sleeping across the room and I asked myself is she ready? Does she know this is it? For weeks his breathing had been up and down .For weeks we would say this is it? Was tonight his final due date ??? Had God changed his due date to help prepare his wife a little more. 60 years of marriage , friendship, love . Was she prepared ???

            My first pregnancy was totally different. Being told I had toxemia and would have the child within hours brought a different kind of anxiety . Was I ready? Were we prepared? I wasn't given the time to anticipate and watch the clock . In fact I wasn't ready for her just yet. just a few more days I thought as I lay in that bed while nurses worked nonstop to get my labor started. Couldnt they just give me something to lower my blood pressure? what if the baby wasn't ready? I mean after all I had no pain, no contractions Haley was content in her Mother's womb and I was content having her in there.

        Tick Tock Tick Tock brought me back to reality again and I held my breath as I waited on him to take another. How long had it been ? was he going to? suddenly I began to realize wow God is really big. He has the power to give us our first breath and take our last ! Obviously I already knew that but to really stop and take it in was overwhelming ! I started to think back to the birth of my first daughter how quickly it all happened and how I didn't have time to prepare myself for it. Wow it was needless to say a sudden change of life. How similar that birth was to many life changing death experiences. Car wrecks, homicides, accidents, I mean in the blink of an eye a life or lives are over and they didn't have time to prepare.Whoah I never thought of it that way. Were they ready?? Were their families prepared?? More than likely not ! Again my eyes were opened to how big God is! Why do we take so lightly our relationship with the One who holds our lives in His hands???

            For months now I have been reading God's word and taking in all that Jesus done for us. And as I serve him through Revolution Church and Unbound Ministry I see the changes take place in people around me. It has been easy to get caught up in the busy schedules and some days I forget to read my devotion or I wont read my bible one day and think its ok I'm at the church today I'm serving so its ok right?? Well my answer came clear to me last night . Although some births and deaths are slower and we have time to plan to anticipate them ..... there are also those that come quickly! No time to think to prepare , but God has given us the tools we need to be ready!! His word offers the answer to the hardest questions in life. And as we read and take in His word our relationship with Him will grow and we will begin to anticipate the moment that we will get to be with Him. You see we can be prepared ! In fact  God wants us to be. So often we think we can grow in our walk with Christ by praying and being with other Christ followers and those things are important and are huge,but I believe that reading and understanding Gods word is the key to truly being prepared to spend eternity with Him. I kindof got a little sad thinking about this because so many people do not even own a bible and if they do how many open it at all much less on a regular basis . How Can people ever be prepared if their life is one of those God planned to end suddenly. And then I realized that is what Serving is all about. The oppritunity to help people understand the importance of being prepared. And it became suddenly clear and overwhelming! We have a lot of work to do,and  I was looking through the Bible for answers this morning and I found so many ! way more than I was even looking for . Its all there !! God has gifted us His word just as He gifted us our life. They are His gifts to us but the true reward comes if we use the gifts the way they were meant for us to use!!   I love what  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says  ":All Scripure is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work."

Timothy 2:24-25  :" A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone ,be able to teach and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth."