Sometimes the Difference Between Life and Death

Luke 12:35-48

Preparation is sometimes the difference between life and death. In any situation where there is a substantial risk of failure and the cost of failure is high, preparation takes on a greater urgency. Sometimes it's a case of life and death.

A commander in the elite aerial team the Blue Devils was giving an account of how important preparation is in that risky enterprise.

Flying the lead plane in a show, this commander felt a sudden thump to his plane's tail. Thinking he had been thumped by another plane, he struggled to keep in line. knowing the formation of the other planes was dependent on him. Hours later at the debriefing, he learned of the danger the pilot just behind him had experienced.

What the commander had interpreted as a thump was actually turbulence created by the thrust of a sudden change in the flight pattern of the jet which was following him. It seems the latter's throttle froze in mid flight, leaving the pilot to make an instantaneous decision. There was only one choice really to fly straight up out of the pattern to keep from endangering those around him, which is what he did. He was able to rectify and recover the situation because he was prepared to expect the unexpected. The available reaction time was only seconds but he was ready to respond. Seconds between life and death.

How do you prepare for such critical decisions? Study, study, study. Practice, practice, practice. Train, train, train. You do it over and over again until your reflexes respond instinctively. If you have to think before you act, you're in trouble. Persons who excel in any field know how crucial it is to prepare. 

A guitarist who is still thinking, "Now where should I place my fingers on the frets?" is not going to keep up with the band. The surgeon who has to think, "Now where did my textbook say that artery is supposed to be?" is not the person want to operate on you. You want someone who is beyond thinking, who is so proficient at what he or she is doing that right actions come naturally. Preparation is the difference between success and failure. It is sometimes the difference between life and death. 

Questions to Ponder

• Are you prepared to expect the unexpected?

• Do you think it is crucial to prepare?

•  Are you willing to do so?

In His Service,
Terry Phillips