Caught Unprepared

"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut." Matthew 25:10 (NIV)

I've lived in Northern VA for 3 1/2 years now. I love this area, especially having 4 distinct seasons. They did however, take a little getting used to for this CA girl. My first winter here, I discovered that as soon as the weather man suggests the tiniest bit of snowfall, everyone must make a mad dash for the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk, and any other essentials. I have to admit, I joined the mad dash. After a year or so, I realized that this was simply crazy. Come on! A dusting of snow isn't going to keep us from the store. It's not like we live in Alaska or North Dakota and are going to be snowed in for a week. Good grief! We have pretty mild winters here. So I relaxed a bit. I no longer run out to the store at the first warning of a storm. Besides, I usually have enough here to hold us over for a couple of days.

So Saturday, when I heard that there was going to be snow on Sunday, did I respond? Of course not. Did I care that this time they were calling for up to 8 inches? Yea right! I don't think we've had 8 inches of snow accumulate over the entire last year. I got up Sunday morning and went to church as usual. After church, we went out to dinner with some friends. (I just have to add that it was such a blessed and wonderful visit.) Then, while the kids played I took a nap on the couch. RELAX! Right? At about 5:30 we went to deliver my daughter's girlfriend back home on the other side of town. It was a nice family outing as the snow began to fall. Now, I knew that we were running low on milk and a few other things to make actual meals for the next couple of days, so do you think I asked my husband to make a quick stop at the store before we came home? NO! Of course not. I could just run out Monday morning and take care of that little errand. RIGHT????

WRONG! I woke up this morning to SNOW!!! It really snowed! I couldn't tell where my front curb met the street. The plows hadn't arrived to clear the roads. What in the world? How am I supposed to go to the store like this? Remember, I'm a California girl! My friend, having grown up in this area, called to check on me. She giggled as she informed me that I should always be prepared when the storm comes from the south. NOW SHE TELLS ME! I love you Beth, but couldn't you have called me yesterday?

Well, I shoveled the drive and waited for the snow plows to clear the neighborhood streets. They finally arrived after noon and out I went to the store, driving way too slow for my liking, on snowy, icy streets. How foolish could I have been?! I should have been cozied up with a good book. Instead, I had been foolishly unprepared.

I was suddenly reminded of one of Christ's parables about 10 virgins who awaited the coming of the bridegroom. Five of the girls were prepared with enough oil to keep their lamps burning no matter how long the wait. The other 5 were foolishly unprepared and eventually had to run out to buy more. While they were out, the bridegroom came, taking the 5 wise girls into the banquet. The doors to the banquet were shut and the 5 foolish virgins missed out on everything. The message: many will be unprepared and miss Christ's coming.

I was lucky; my foolish unpreparedness left me little more than inconvenienced. How sad the thought that foolish unpreparedness will cause so many to miss out on eternal life. The thought of my crazy, somewhat funny day, came to a sobering stillness. Oh God, may my heart be broken at this thought. Then came another thought. How many people will be unprepared because I didn't do my part to make sure they knew they needed to be prepared? Just like I wished Beth would have called me one day earlier, will others wish I would have told them?

Oh how I pray that every person who reads this is prepared for Christ's coming. We so often think, "I don't have to worry about that yet." Yes you do. We never know when He might return. And oh how I pray that every person who reads this is prepared for whatever Christ asks you to do today. It might be just what someone else needs to be prepared for eternity, or maybe even a snow storm. :)