Are You Ready or Are You Prepared?

Saturday morning in prayer, God asked me, "Are you ready, or are you prepared?" That question blew my mind and caused me to reflect on my motives and heart posture. I realized that, while I am ready, I am not 100% prepared for the next season of my life. God told me that most of his people aren't prepared, which is why He led me to write this post.

First, let's dissect the difference between being ready and being prepared. Being ready is a feeling. When you are ready for something, you feel it. You feel impatient. You feel like you cannot wait any longer. You feel like you are ready to possess the promise. You see, it's based on feeling. How many of you know that just because you feel ready does not mean you are prepared?

Being prepared is more than a feeling; it's a position. It means that the necessary actions took place that put you in a position of being able to handle the thing you are waiting for. It means you've been trained, you've been pruned, you've been processed for the next season. David, in the Bible, was prepared to defeat Goliath. He wasn't just ready. How do you know he was prepared? Well, God was preparing him for this big battle while he was a young shepherd by allowing him to experience smaller battles. Those smaller battles were training. You see, In 1 Samuel 17, David tells Saul that he can defeat Goliath just as he defeated a lion and bear before. Those smaller battles that David had had with the lion and with the bear prepared him to defeat the giant. Although David did not look prepared according to human standards, he was inwardly prepared. He had confidence to know that if he wrestled a lion and bear and won, the same would be true for this giant. His season of being a shepherd was his preparation season.

Many of us are still in our preparation season. We are saying to God, "I am ready!" God is saying, "I know you are, but there is more preparation that needs to be done." The more prepared you are, the more success you will see in the next season.

Let's look at Matthew 25. In verses 1-13, Jesus is telling a parable about 10 virgins. 5 of the virgins were wise and 5 were foolish. All 10 of the virgins took oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The wise virgins brought extra oil just in case their lamps were to burn out. The foolish ones did not bring extra oil--they weren't prepared for a delay. The passage says that the bridgeroom did not come when they had expected him to. Therefore, they all fell asleep. In the middle of the night, someone yelled out that the bridgeroom was there. The 10 virgins got up to meet him. However, the foolish ones did not have extra oil, and their lamps were burning out. They asked the wise virgins to borrow some of their oil. However, the wise virgins said no or they would run out too. They advised them to go to the store to purchase more, so the foolish ones did that. However, while they were gone, the bridgegroom came, let the wise virgins in, and then shut the door. When the foolish virigins came back from the store, they knocked on the door, but it was too late. Jesus ends the parable by saying to his disciples to stay alert because you have no idea when he might arrive.

That passage definitely relates to the end times and how we must be ready for Jesus' return because no man knows the day or hour. However, it can also relate to any circumstance and how important preparation is. Not being prepared can backfire on you. You won't have time to get prepared at the last minute. Use this season to prepare. Use this season to allow God to transform you. Get what you need to out of this season so that you can see success in the next season. Every season is important. There is something to gain from each season. This season is for you to gain wisdom, revelation, anointing, creativity, joy, peace, a renewed mind, etc. God is trying to make you new. He has new wine waiting for you, but He cannot put new wine in old wine skins. Therefore, He is trying to work on the wine skin--you--to prepare you for this new wine. You won't be able to contain the new wine, if you're not prepared for it.

You might be in a season where your patience is being tested. Let patience have her perfect work. Your peace might be tested. Lean on God. He will give you the peace that surpasses all understanding. I am more at peace than I have been in years and it doesn't make sense why I am at peace because my circumstances tell me that I should worry right now. However, because I've been leaning on God and trusting in Him, I have peace. There's peace in fully trusting God. There's peace in putting everything in His hands for Him to figure out. You don't have to stress yourself out trying to figure out how things are going to happen. There's peace in knowing that God is working it out. Your faith is being strengthened in this season. Your dependency on God is being strengthened. You're going to need that faith and dependency for where you're going.

Don't think the new season is pefect. Yes-the Promise Land is beautiful and fruitful, but remember, there were still giants there. The Israelites still had to defeat the giants before they could possess the land. Your promise is not the absence of problems. As you elevate in God, you will be more of a threat to the enemy, so the attacks will become stronger. Therefore, you need as much preparation as you can get. Don't despise this season of preparation.

So what do I do during this time? How do I prepare?

I'm glad you asked:

1. Fully submit to God and allow Him to have access to every part of you. (He can't transform what you don't give Him access to. Release the unforgiveness. Give it to Him. Give Him the rejection. Give Him the relationship. Give Him those bad habits. Give Him the procrastination. Give Him the eating habits. Give Him every area of your life. Don't hold on to anything. That's the only way He can fix it.)

2. Stay in prayer. (Listen to Him.)

3. Study and read your Bible. (You learn and grow so much by reading and meditating on His word.)

4. Don't ignore the Holy Spirit. (There will be unctions from the Holy Spirit. Obey and take heed).

5. Do whatever He tells you to do in this season. (If He tells you to wait, wait. If He tells you to start writing the book, write it. If He tells you to write your business plan, do it. If He tells you to start the blog or website, start it. This is not an idle season. Remember what you do in this season prepares you for the next. Set yourself up for greatness!)

The most important thing you can do in this season is to fully surrender your life to Jesus and stay in communication with Him. He will tell you what steps you need to take. You can't seek the world and everybody but God for advice. Go straight to the Creator yourself for wisdom. He will give it to you. This is a season where you cannot afford to lean to your own understanding. Trust Him every step of the way. Before you know it, you will be a brand new person doing things you couldn't imagine yourself doing weeks ago. Ride this wave with God. I'm telling you--He's going to blow your mind! You got this!

Faithfully Preparing,

Jasmine Alexis