In disaster preparedness and response, we must always be ready because we never know when a natural disaster may happen. Within a moment's notice, we’ve dealt with tornadoes, flash floods, straight-line winds, and more.
These disasters could not be avoided and there was very little warning before they struck. The only thing that the affected communities and churches could do was prepare beforehand for the possibility that a disaster would happen in their town.
This can be said for our faith as well. We are not promised tomorrow so we must be ready at any moment for Christ to return. As Christ says in Matthew 24:42-44,
“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Jesus will return when we least expect so we must live our lives devoted to serving Him every day—as if tomorrow is the day He will return. Christ again says in Mark 13:32-33,
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”
As our beloved Debbie said before she passed, “We never know when the next day will be our last so we must continuously live for the Lord.”
We must live out every day serving Him like it could be our last; not having our main focus on maintaining our salvation, but on being the hands and feet of Jesus—serving the least of these so that others may come to know the Love of Christ as we have.
- Mason Lambert, U.S. Disaster Coordinator