None of us can predict the future. Or can we? Like the rest of my country, I watched and prayed when Hurricane Irene made her way along the eastern coast of America. Weather experts noted the historic nature of this storm and the impact it could have and eventually did have on those in her path.
Even those not directly affected by the storm were aware of the havoc she caused. Air travel was interrupted all over the nation proving to bring about yet higher prices for airline travel which does impact the rest of us.
There is a ripple effect on an entire nation because of a major storm – just as there is a ripple effect from a dismal economic crisis.
Several times during the week Hurricane Irene showed up, I heard the phrase, “Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.” The advice was directed toward those who would potentially be in the path of Irene’s fury. With all the technology available to experts, their best predictions were still an educated guess. Some of them, when questioned about what would happen, said, “Give me 24 hours, then I can tell you.”
There were, sadly, many who lost loved ones and property because of this storm. Losses would have been greater still, though, had people not heeded the advice to prepare, evacuate or stay in during the storm. The capabilities of prediction today are so much greater than they were in times past that saving lives and protecting property is more possible than it used to be.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best could also be applied to the economic situation. Experts in every financial field have been asked to make predictions about unemployment, home foreclosures, reviving retail figures, the stock market, the value of the dollar and everything else related to the crisis. Expert opinions run from dismally pessimistic to cautiously optimistic.
No one really knows for sure. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.
We cannot live effectively with blinders on. We must be aware of the big picture. At any given moment, circumstances beyond our control can change our lives. Prepare and hope is good advice.
As a Christian, I believe I can prepare for the best and hope for the best. The best in life is knowing the love of Jesus. My hope is in Christ, my Savior. That hope is not a “hope so,” but a solid expectation that His promises are true.
Preparing for the best, to me, involves being ready to greet Him either when I meet Him in my death or when He comes to receive His own. In that sense, I can predict the future. I know without a doubt the best is yet to come.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37
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