Preparation

Even with a reminder, I knew I wasn't going to get much of a chance to blog before noon today because I have plans that will take up most of my morning. Fortunately, I prepared for this event by writing this blog post last night, saving it as a draft, ans then posting it this morning. This is good practice for me because preparation is one of the key defenses against evil. When Captain Moroni took command of the Nephite armies, he didn't just react well to the Lamanite attacks, he anticipated them. He built up defenses around cities well before they were assaulted, and he built up greater defenses around cities that had previously been considered weak because he predicted (correctly) that the Lamanites would try to attack the previously weaker cities first.

However, anticipating needs isn't always easy. I knew I'd want to have a blog post written by noon today, so I preemptively met that need by writing it last night, but what can we do about needs that aren't as easy to anticipate? Say you're going camping. What do you pack? Of course, you'll bring the basic essentials, including everything you think you'll want or need, but if you fail to anticipate a need for insect repellent, sunscreen, or a rain fly, you could end up in serious trouble, despite any other preparations you might have made. In order to effectively prepare for needs, including the need for strong spiritual defenses, we need to be able to predict what our needs will be and what tools will help us meet those needs.

Preparation requires foresight, and the secret to foresight is hindsight. We can look to the past for examples of how things work, and we can use those examples to help us make predictions for the future. Captain Moroni knew that the Lamanites preferred to attack weak targets, so he made sure the cities that had previously been weak were now quite defensible. Similarly, I knew, from past experience, that I wouldn't have time to blog this morning, so I made sure to write this blog post when I did have time.

Anticipating spiritual needs is a bit trickier. Our spiritual battles aren't visible, so it can be difficult to know what strategies are being used against us and what we can do to fight those strategies. That may be why so many wise people encourage those who are struggling with something to write down clear details of the moments, hours, and sometimes days that led up the spiritual conflict. Careful analysis can help us identify our weaknesses and develop plans for how to fortify them.

This preparation can be essential. In our spiritual battles, any advantage we can give ourselves can be a Godsend, and it's important to build those fortifications well before we need them. Just as defensive walls must be built around a city before it's attacked, our spiritual defenses also need to be built up before they are tested, and I sometimes need to write blog posts twelve hours before they're due. Merely reacting to needs isn't the best strategy.  If we want our needs to be met, our blog posts to be submitted in time, and our spiritual defenses to hold, we would do well to do what we can to practice preparation.