PREPARE FOR YOUR BATTLES

Monday: December 7, 2020

Luke 7:19 Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus.

Before soldiers head out on any mission, depending on the kind, there are multiple battle ground simulations to give them an idea of what to expect. Such simulations incorporate all possible variables, situations and people that can affect the successful execution of the task they will be assigned. Therefore significant planning with multiple scenarios are drafted well in advance because the war front is hardly the place to want to start planning a fight.

The four friends we read about today who carried their friend to Jesus, had a plan A, a B and very probably a plan C. We could argue that the location of Jesus on the day allowed for the execution of their ridiculous rooftop adventure possible, but things could have been very different otherwise. Plan A was through the door, but the crowd blocked it; B perhaps through a window – the man just wouldn’t fit. Hence plan C, the roof.

When their situation changed, so did their solution. By looking closely at the battle they had on their hand to get their friend to Jesus, having no plan at all wouldn’t have been a good idea. Their actions are indicative of what goes on, not before a battle, but in the middle of a battle. Before a battle, you have the luxury of drawing up a plan, but in the midst a battle, you ought to be adjusting tactics and employing alternatives to gain an advantage when the real fighting heats up.

This is also captured in the parable where Jesus highlights the core reason why a king would want to assess his army before a war or a builder, his materials (Luke 14:29-32).  You may not even know what kind of battles will come your way, but you can develop capacity for warfare beforehand. So my dear, I re-echo: do your planning before the real fighting begins because once you get caught up in the heat of a battle, you will only barely have time to adjust the plans you have already made. If at that point, you have not made any plans at all, your task just becomes more challenging, but not impossible.

#sly