Certain professions carry with them a contingency.  They are “on call.”  Many of these have equipment which they need to have READY.  It may be clothes, tools, weapons, beepers or specialized equipment.  They have their things packed…ready for immediate access and deployment.  NOTHING must be allowed to interfere with their readiness and availability.  They never know when they will need it, but they are certain that they will need it.  Therefore, its readiness must be guarded.  When the call comes, that suitcase or trunk or equipment may be their only lifeline.  Their salvation.  Think of SWAT teams, SEAL teams, law enforcement, emergency personnel, fire fighters, Coast Guard, electrical linemen.  Lifeboats on a ship.  Fire extinguishers in an office.  Emergency wash rooms in a lab.  Etc.

What MOTIVATES or ENABLES such an attitude, such preparation, such readiness?

A person in this position has to see the unseen!  

Can humans really do that?  Well, these people do it all the time.  The reason they respond so quickly and skillfully and effectively in a crisis is because they are prepared.  They are prepared because they have projected their mind into the future and accepted as real an event which has not yet actually happened!  They have seen with their mind what they cannot see with their eyes.  

Is it really any different concerning God…the great, invisible, silent Spirit?  Can we really see with a mind of FAITH what cannot yet be seen with our physical eye?  Well, if the Coast Guard can see a boat flipped over on the rocks before it ever happens, the Christian had ought to be able to see a crisis such as the Bible describes as coming…before it actually happens.  The Scriptures tell us that Christ will one day appear in the clouds of heaven, returning to this earth.  It says that this moment will be spasm of terror for those who had not believed and a moment of marvel for those who had believed (I Thessalonians 4, II Thessalonians 1).  The Scriptures also predict a catastrophic event, when God will “shake” the earth and the heavens (Hebrews 12).  This moment will arrive unexpectedly and unannounced, like a thief.  “The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare”  (II Peter 3).  Sounds like the moment when a SWAT team is notified of an active shooter.  No time to prepare.  No option of deciding if this is true.  No luxury of discussion or strategy.  It is unfolding NOW.  Preparation and training takes over…OR…preparation never actually happened because someone doubted this scenario would ever happen.   If this happened today, which would it be for you?  Hebrews 12 tells us not only that we can see this future event with eyes of faith but that we had better see it and see it clearly.  Otherwise we will be caught unprepared and lost.  The first item of preparation is simply to trust Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.  In 12:25 it says, “See that you do not refuse him who speaks…who warned them…who warns us.”  The Bible has been written to warn us.  The “call” will come.  See it ahead of time so that you will be ready!