The Power of Preparation: Lessons from My Grandmother, Nehemiah, and Life’s Missed Opportunities

Stay Ready So You Don’t Have To Get Ready 

Almost every morning, my dad sends my brother and I, a good morning message with a hint of inspiration. Sometimes they’re long, other times they’re as short as, “Morning; Be Great.” We are all super busy, but we make it a priority to at least like the message. Last week, my dad called me and told me, it’s on me to send the good morning message. At first, I was nervous and didn’t know what to say. I prayed and asked God to help me articulate myself in such a way that it would resonate with them. I sat with it for a little bit, and these words came, “Good morning family; Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Remember opportunity dances with those on the floor. No such thing as luck, just preparation meeting opportunity; but if you aren’t ready, you’ll miss the opportunity. Happy Monday!” I was amazed at how good it sounded and couldn’t stop thinking where the idea came from. A few hours later, it hit me; this lesson was after watching my grandmother.

My grandmother was in town for about a week and stayed at my house. Every morning, when she woke up, after she would pray and journal, she automatically would get up and get dressed. Mind you, she had nowhere to go. She was babysitting Saint, while I went to work. I was amazed how she would naturally just get ready. She has the same routine even while she’s at home. She’s now retired, but every morning gets up and gets dressed. Even if her only plans for the day is to sit around and watch TV, she makes it a priority to still get ready. Every day that I watched her do this, it made me think about all the times that I’ve gotten left as a kid. I know this may sound crazy, but let me explain. I was the child who always wanted to go with my mom. Whether she was going to the grocery store, the mall, or just on a drive; I always wanted to go. There have been many times that my mom has actually left me, because I wasn’t ready when it was time to leave. The reason why my week with my grandmother brought me back to my childhood, is because it showed how my lack of preparation as a kid, led me to miss out. Everyday she would get up, get dressed and put her clothes on. She would even go as far as curling her hair and putting on lipstick. A few of days while she was here, I would call ask if she wanted to go somewhere, and if needed to get ready; but she would already be ready. Because she was ready, she never got left.

This is so much deeper than getting up and getting yourself physically ready. There have been so many times in my life that I’ve missed out on opportunities simply because I wasn’t ready. Whether it was a promotion, an outing, even a collaboration with the blog; my lack of preparation, has held me back before. A Couple weeks ago, I told you guys to ask for what you want. That’s important, but before you ask for what you want, you have to be ready. I’m in this Bible study group and we’ve been reading Nehemiah. Think about the Bible for a second. Nehemiah asked the king specifically for what he wanted, but it’s only because he was ready. He had already spent his time with God and asked him specifically what his request should be. I want to take it a step further today, it’s not about just asking for what you want, it is also about being prepared. If Nehemiah had not already prayed and asked God what he should ask for, he would not have been ready when the king asked him for what he wanted. 

If you haven’t read the book of Nehemiah, I definitely challenged you to spend some time reading it. To sum it up in short terms; Nehemiah, learned from his brothers that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down. He was really sad to learn this, and prayed to God for help. He also prayed for favor that when he went to the king, that he would grant his request. In chapter 2, he goes to the King the next spring, and the king saw he was sad. The king asked him what was his request, and he ultimately told the king that he wanted to go to Judea to rebuild the wall. He even asked specifically what he would need. The king granted his request. The first thing he did, before he built the wall, was went and inspected the space. He was prepared because not only did he pray, he also inspected what needed to be done before he began, but he also had clarity on how to move forward. So many times we don’t do the work necessary because we don’t do the pre-text of work that we have to do. It’s hard to be prepared if you don’t pray and connect with God and assess the work that it’s going to take. 

The thing that gets me with Nehemiah, is that he was prepared. He was prepared by seeking God first, before he went to the king. He could have just asked the king directly, but he wanted to make sure that he was prepared for when the opportunity presented itself. So many times we walk into rooms and spaces, unprepared and just hope that things will go our way. How better would life be if you would prepare? I don’t know about you, but I know I can always tell days that I’m prepared and days that I’m not. Even as simple as preparing for the day ahead, I have a better day when I actually prepare for it the night before or even the morning of. When I walk into a day blindly, yes, I have a good day, but it could be so much better if I’d been prepared. The thing with preparation that people don’t like, is the preparation work. Everybody talks about the work that needs to get done, but they ignore the preparation. The preparation is the action before the work. The preparation is the “boring “work.

I hope you really understand why preparation is so important. Personally, I like to spend my Sundays preparing for the week ahead. I even use the night before each day to prepare for the next day. I pick out my clothes, and write a to do list, that way, I know exactly when I wake up what I’m doing the next day. Sometimes it takes five minutes, other days it may take hours. Some nights I fall asleep and don’t do it, but there is a huge difference on days when I’m prepared and when I’m just winging it. I’m not saying you have to have everything perfectly organized and set together, no. I’m simply saying take some time to prepare for the things you want. Things won’t always go as planned, be able to be flexible. On top of that; your lack of help in life may be a direct reflect of you lacking a clear plan. The men were willing to help me Nehemiah, he was prepared. People are willing to help you when you have a specific plan. It helps you and them. 

Take some time and think about ways you can get better prepared for the things that you say you want. What areas of your life lacking preparation? Could you not being ready, be the thing holding you back from the next level you’re trying to get to? If I gave you everything you wanted right now, would you be prepared to handle it? If a genie gave you three wishes, would you be prepared for with what you would ask for? Opportunity dances with those on the floor. Get off the bench and get in the game.