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In our fast-paced world, the ability to foresee and prepare for future challenges is an invaluable skill. Whether it’s in our personal lives, our careers, or our spiritual journeys, being proactive rather than reactive can make all the difference. Scripture speaks to the importance of anticipating potential problems and taking steps to address them before they become crises.

Looking ahead involves a blend of discernment, planning, and faith. Discernment allows us to identify potential pitfalls; planning equips us with strategies to navigate these challenges; and faith reassures us that, regardless of the obstacles, we are not alone. As we explore the concept of “looking ahead,” we’ll journey into some solid practical steps and scriptural wisdom that can and will guide us in preparing for the uncertainties of tomorrow.

Proverbs 22:3 – “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

Proverbs 27:12 –“The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

With only a few chapters between these verses, we read the exact same words…the exact same sentence twice! God is trying to get something across to us. So let’s dive in and see what He is saying to us today.

 

The Wise and The Fool

In this text, we have 2 people: the prudent (wise) person and the simple (foolish) person.

They both see the same danger. One hides (or shelters) while the other ignores the danger and continues living pretending it doesn’t exist. It is important to note that it doesn’t say that the prudent is rewarded for hiding himself.  Yet, it does say that the simple suffers for ignoring the danger.

The question that begs to be asked is this one: What categories of dangers exist?

  • Spiritual Dangers – Temptation and sin
  • Physical Dangers – Injury or calamity
  • Financial Dangers – Debt, loss of job
  • Relational Dangers – Brokenness

Not only are there dangers, there are also degrees of dangers that one needs to be prepared for. Because of the various categories of dangers, it is good to note that there are some consequences that are not as severe as others. 

Preparedness is very important!  But we don’t want our preparation to be an idol. 

In preparing for upcoming “dangers”, we need to leave room for God to provide in simple, and also in abundant ways. Yet at the same time, we need to be responsible in order to protect ourselves and also our family!

There are real dangers and imagined dangers.

  • A real danger is a guy with a mask that just entered the bank.
  • An imagined danger is when I read my Bible, and I am convinced that September 13th of this year, God will rain down hellfire on Philadelphia, PA and I need to get out.

Severity and likelihood: 

  • We can prepare for what is severe, but it might not be likely. It may be extremely unlikely to happen, and it may not be wise to prepare for. 
  • On the flip side, if something is likely but not severe, preparing for it will help mitigate an inconvenience for you and your family! 
  • If it’s likely and severe, wisdom would say that you should do all that you can to prepare to meet that danger!

Sphere of concern and sphere of influence.

You only take preparation for the things that you can influence, and that are real concerns of yours! If it is a concern, but you can’t control it, there’s not much you can do to prepare. But if it’s a concern and you CAN control it, or a portion of it to mitigate the potential problem/damage, you might want to focus your efforts in this category to lessen the severity of short term and long term impact.

 

Stewardship Dangers to Be Aware Of

  • Retirement is coming! Can you survive and thrive off your investments? If so, for how long (you should calculate that out)
  • Tires wear out. Can you replace them before you have an accident, either a small one like going outside in the morning and seeing a flat tire, or a big issue like having the tire blowout while doing 70mph down the highway?
  • Marriage! While we wouldn’t say it’s a danger in a negative sense, it is something you need to prepare for.  Going into marriage without a financial and budgetary plan is not wise or good!  
  • Needless and/or reckless spending. If you are one that spends when you want, how you want, and to whatever degree you want, that is not looking ahead and seeing the danger!  This could very well put you and your family in a difficult financial position in the days/years to come!

 

What does it mean to see danger and hide yourself?

It’s rather simple. It means to be observing, looking for, visually seeing the dangers (or potential dangers) that are coming and or the ones surrounding you. In this you are seeing and perceiving (or interpreting and understanding) that certain things around you are dangers.

For example, you have just bought a car. You know that the tires won’t last forever. You see the need that tire replacement will be coming sooner than later.  Because you know of this very large financial expense ($750-$2000), how are you preparing today for that day? Will you let your tires run until they pop and then go into debt because you can’t afford to replace them? OR will you start preparing now, putting away a few dollars every pay period in order to save up and cover, or come close to covering that cost with little-to-no impact on your family’s financial health?

By choosing to prepare today, to replace those tires tomorrow, you demonstrate wisdom and are resembling the “prudent” person here in Proverbs.  By ignoring the danger, you resemble the “simple” person and you will potentially suffer the consequences of having to go into debt.  By choosing this avenue, you will be lowering your family’s standard of living (by paying interest instead of earning interest) due to your lack of proactive action. 

Or maybe you are driving and you see a tree. You perceive that that tree is a danger if you keep on driving towards it. You hide yourself by turning the car away from the tree! If you go on, you crash into the tree and you suffer further consequences.  This illustration is very simple and very clear!

But there are extremes.

One extreme is buying gold ahead of an election in order to prepare for the worst out of paranoia that the wrong candidate will win the election and the economy will tank. The other extreme is not preparing for anything ever, living the laissez-faire life! “Hiding,” in our original passages is about what you can control! IN what you can control, we see that there is an act, a decision to take refuge in some sort AND also in the Lord!

Is your prepping an idol that’s created out of self-reliance? Or are you preparing due to responsibility?

 

What does it mean to “go on” and “Suffer”?

“Go on” due to fear – It’s not just about seeing danger, it’s also about whether or not to take action or let danger paralyze us. There may be a need to have someone speak into you, because you may be caught up in your own little world. Have you been there?  You may be caught up in what I call Analyzation Paralyzation. This is where you spend your time thinking and processing and NOT taking any action at all!  You are SO caught up in the planning and processing that it paralyzes you from any/all action steps!  In this, you NEED someone to speak into you to help break that cycle. 

“Go on” due to ignorance – It may be that you are ignorant to the danger around you! Maybe you lack knowledge when it comes to the danger you are facing. This could lead to inaction.  On the other hand, you may be ignorant towards God. In this case, you may be too self-reliant and think that you don’t need His provisions. The danger is in the thinking of something like this…“I know the danger is coming, but I’ll be able to deal with it when it comes.” Depending on the severity of the danger, this could be a catastrophic mistake!

“Suffer” – Clearly the Scriptures here speak that there is a potential of negative consequences for one’s inaction. But let’s remember, you are not God! There are things in this world that you cannot ever prepare for. 

So to simply put it, we live in a fallen and broken world that operates under Murphy’s Law. There is only so much ‘preparing’ you can do! Use wisdom to prepare for what you can, and for what makes sense within the context of your family and life. 

 

Stewardship Application

This episode flows naturally from the previous two. What did the rich fool do? He looked ahead and saw danger, and prepared himself. But he blinded himself from the needs of others. He only looked out for himself! But the good samaritan was a busy man going about his business, and yet he was not blinded to the community around him. He loved, embraced, and met a need that was right before him. 

The “prepper” mentality cuts you off from fellow man. It’s all about self, self sufficiency, hoarding and independence! That’s not wisdom. That’s foolishness. And it is also anti-Biblical!

We want to encourage you to steward your life in and under the majesty and glory of God!  The good steward will choose to be proactive in preparing for things that they can control, plan for those things that they can foresee by surrendering their control to God along with placing a strong trust in the Lord’s provisions, even in times of catastrophe.

Our prayer is that you too, will be like the writers of Psalms 31:1; Ps. 16:1; Ps 71:1; and Ps. 46:1…which says…“In you Lord, I do take refuge”

 

Next Steps

 

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