These past several months have offered incredible lessons for all of us in preparing for disaster. Nearly a year ago, it was the great tsunami in the Indian Ocean and, more recently, the U.S. Gulf Coast was ravaged by ferocious hurricanes.
The losses are staggering and, in many cases, the effects will last for this lifetime. Some of these losses could have been avoided. People, cities, states and national governments were unprepared, ill prepared or simply overwhelmed by the size of the storms that confronted them.
Perhaps most tragic of all, some had plans that were simply never put into action. There will continue to be analysis, evaluation and plenty of finger-pointing. Some will be justified; some have realized that they made serious misjudgments.
As bad as things were, it's very easy to move on and forget some of the valuable lessons that came out of these horrific episodes of nature.
Tomorrow's reality, not always today's paradise
As events unfolded along the Gulf Coast, I began to scratch down some mental notes that were becoming painfully obvious. The lessons hold true wherever you live.
The basic lessons include: Prepare for worst-case scenarios in life, for they will come. Be careful where you build and choose to live, because tomorrow's reality isn't always today's paradise. The middle of a crisis is no time to learn leadership. Not making a decision is a decision—one that could affect countless others. Communication is important. Above us, around us, below us, we must be connected with others to get where we need to go, and be able to bring others with us. And perhaps last, but not least, to borrow the now famous line by Lt. Gen. Russel Honor: "Don't get stuck on stupid!"
Why is it important to consider such points? Because more "storms of life" are headed our way. Jesus addressed this reality, when He issued an alert in Matthew 7:24-27 that the rains of life would descend. He wasn't speaking of weather, but rather of life, of vocations, occupations and preoccupations—"the stuff" of which life is made. It's the story of people and choices about building on rock or on sand. The variable in the message is not whether a storm is coming, for the rains and wind do come! But we can have control over the preparations beforehand.
