Spiritual Preparation: Why We Must Prepare Before Crisis Hits

Editor’s note – A glitchy app doesn’t sound like a spiritual crisis, but the author’s brief scare over a missing content list makes a timely point. We’re rarely undone by the trouble we saw coming; it’s the sudden, ordinary failures that expose how little we’ve prepared our hearts. This piece is a gentle push to build that preparation now, in the quiet days, rather than scrambling for it once trouble has already arrived.

Today, I had a little scare with one of the apps I use all the time for my social media content. I dictate content into the app, and I’ve created lists of posts that I can use to promote my digital marketing business, freelance writing, and other things I’m working on.

When I opened the app today, all of those lists were gone.

For a moment, I thought I had lost everything I had worked on. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app, and thankfully, once I logged back in, everything returned. I was definitely relieved to see all of my content there again.

But the situation also made me realize that I had a problem I needed to fix.

A Wake-Up Call About Being Prepared

When my husband called me during his lunch break, I told him what had happened. As I explained it, I realized I needed a better way to streamline the process and make sure the content is backed up somewhere else.

With my articles and other writing, I’m already careful about this. My work is stored on my laptop, but I also have it backed up in the cloud. If something happens to my laptop, I don’t automatically lose everything I’ve written.

But I hadn’t done the same thing with my social media content. I was relying on one app to keep it all safe.

Thankfully, everything worked out today. But what if the app had stopped working permanently? What if I couldn’t log back in? I could have lost a lot of content I spent time creating.

It was a good wake-up call because now I can fix the problem before I actually lose something. It also got me thinking about how important preparation is in our spiritual lives.

Editor’s note – Notice how ordinary this wake-up call was – just a stalled app, not a tragedy. That’s often how God gets our attention, through small failures we can still recover from before the big ones we can’t.

Are We Preparing Before the Difficult Days Come?

We know life won’t always be rosy. Problems are going to happen. Stressful situations will come up. We may experience disappointment, loss, uncertainty, financial problems, family issues, or situations we never expected.

We can’t prepare for every specific thing that will happen. But we can prepare ourselves spiritually by continuing to grow in our relationship with God. If we’re not spending time in God’s Word, praying, and building our spiritual lives when things are going well, we’re making it harder on ourselves when difficult times come.

Psalm 119:11 says:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. [Psalm 119:11]

That’s one reason I think memorizing Scripture is so valuable. We can get God’s Word into our hearts now and ask the Holy Spirit to bring those verses back to our minds when we’re going through something difficult.

I’ve experienced times when a Scripture came to mind exactly when I needed it. That’s why we shouldn’t wait until we’re in the middle of a crisis to start building our relationship with God.

Ways We Can Prepare Spiritually

One of the first things we can do is simply recognize that bad things can happen. Following God doesn’t mean we’re promised a problem-free life. Knowing that helps us not become completely blindsided when something difficult happens.

We can also spend time memorizing Scripture and getting God’s Word into our hearts. There may come a day when you’re dealing with fear, stress, disappointment, or another difficult situation, and the Holy Spirit brings a verse back to your mind that you’ve read many times before.

Another important part of preparation is developing a prayer life. I want to stay in constant communication with God and be intentional about growing my relationship with Him – not only turning to Him when something goes wrong.

I’ve also found that keeping track of what I’m thankful for can help keep my focus in the right place. You could use an actual journal, a notebook, or even the notes app on your phone and record at least three things you’re thankful for each day. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

A prayer journal can serve a different purpose. You can write down what you’re praying about and then go back later and record how God answered those prayers. Over time, you create a reminder of God’s faithfulness in your life. When another difficult season comes, you can look back and remember what He’s already brought you through.

We need other believers around us. That might be Christian family members or friends, people at church, or small-group members who encourage us and help us keep growing in the Lord.

Proverbs 27:17 says:

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. [Proverbs 27:17]

We weren’t meant to walk through everything alone.

Editor’s note – None of these disciplines are complicated or expensive. A notebook, a few minutes of prayer, a phone call to a friend – ordinary tools that become the foundation holding firm when the unexpected finally comes.

Today, I’m thankful that my missing social media content came back. But I’m also thankful the situation happened because it showed me an area where I wasn’t prepared. Now I know I need another backup so that I’m not depending entirely on one app.

It also reminded me of something that goes far beyond social media content.

We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, next week, or next year. But we can spend time with God today. We can read His Word today. We can pray today. We can remember His faithfulness today. Then when the unexpected happens, we have a stronger spiritual foundation to stand on.

What do you do in your life to prepare spiritually for dealing with the ups and downs that life throws at you?

A Word from the Editor
We can’t back up our way out of hardship, but we can build a life saturated with God’s Word and His faithfulness so the unexpected doesn’t catch us empty-handed. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” isn’t just a verse to memorize – it describes what a prepared heart looks like. Start today, not because you know what’s coming, but because you don’t.

Editor Comment: Hiding God's Word in our hearts before trouble comes is exactly what Psalm 119:11 promises, and you show why that matters long before the crisis hits. The Holy Spirit will help us through all trials if we have His Word hidden in our hearts.

This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.