Mark 14:15
And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
Many discount the importance of preparation to their own hurt and demise. Our Saviour did not live an unprepared life; instead, He lived His life preparing for all that was to come. One may wonder what the secret was to His ministry making such a great impact in such a short three-year span, and the answer is that Jesus lived a prepared life. For instance, before Jesus started His ministry, He spent forty days and nights in prayer. You will often see the Saviour in a garden praying before He ever performed the miraculous. Before Jesus had His last supper with the disciples, He had a room furnished and prepared. Hold on, how did Jesus know that there was a room furnished and prepared? He knew this because He had prepared with the man who owned the room before the event. Christ’s character to prepare is an example that He expects all to follow.
Many want to see the miraculous, but they don't prepare and work for the miraculous, which is why they never see it. You will never see the great works of God without preparing for God to do something great. If you live by the seat of your pants, you will never accomplish to the capacity what you could have done had you prepared. You may say, “God worked in a mighty way, and we didn't prepare.” You may be right that God worked in a mighty way, but He could have worked in a mightier way had you prepared. A lack of preparation reveals your laziness and your thoughts on the importance of what you do for God. Those whom God has used the greatest are those who are organized and prepared.
Preparation is not a gift; it is the result of character. Preparation is accomplished because someone is willing to do the tedious work to prepare for everything they are about to do. Those who have been around me will say that I have the gift of organization, but I say that I don't have the gift of organization but the character to prepare. Nobody has the gift of organization, but the organized have the character to prepare. You choose whether or not you are organized by whether you choose to prepare.
The ability to furnish and prepare is done by looking ahead at what you want to do. In my church, my staff and I plan our church schedule a year ahead so that we are not caught off guard for what we want God to do through our church. I do believe that the Holy Spirit should guide us, but He guides us to prepare ahead just like Jesus was prepared. Don't blame your lack of preparedness on the Holy Spirit. Those who do not prepare are likely not following the Holy Spirit, but they are following their lazy character to fill the holes as events happen. It doesn't take a gift from God to look ahead; it takes character to look ahead and plan.
Moreover, you can plan ahead, but you must also plan when you want to start implementing your plan. Let’s say that you have something planned six months from now; whatever it is you have planned, you must also decide when you will start preparing for that event. There is planning events, and then there is the plan to start to prepare for the event; both are necessary to preparedness and organization.
My friend, you can be a prepared person, but you will never get there if you don't stop and take time to prepare. You will see God use you to a greater degree if you will organize and prepare for what you want to do for Him.
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