You may be scared. That’s okay.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) hosts its annual Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament in Charlotte (at least until 2021). All kinds of things are happening in the weeks and days leading up to the tournament.

It’s interesting to watch the City get ready. News agencies tease events, banners go up, flags fly, street vendors peddle their wares, food trucks open the sides of their kitchens, and fans pour into the City.

Some activities begin weeks, months, and even years ahead of the Tournament. Ensuring each activity has the right amount of space, confirming safety plans, appropriating resources—all require planning and execution. The Tournament would have no chance of success without great attention to planning.

In the same vein, if you want to attend some of the events during the week of the CIAA, you need to plan and prepare. Imagine coming into town the week of the Tournament, having made no plans, expecting to find a hotel room close to the Tournament venue. You’d be disappointed.

Or, let’s say you pick the weekend of the Tournament to drive into the uptown area to eat. Your heart is set on dining at your favorite restaurant. With no prior planning, you’d likely be disappointed on several fronts. Parking is tough. Table availability is tough. Simply getting around can be tough. There’s a lot going on that week. If you haven’t planned early, you might get left out.

You don’t want those disappointments. So, you plan. You prepare.

Your life is like this, too.

The biggest preparation you need to make is where you will spend eternity. It’s safe to say, the disappointment of having not prepared properly for a large uptown event isn’t even close to being unprepared for the end times. I don’t think I can put into words the immeasurable difference between the two.

Until that time comes, there’s a good chance you’ll experience minor health issues. You can minimize those occurrences, or their severity, by planning. You know, the normal things we hear. Eat well, exercise, be careful—those types of things. And when they do happen, you can have plans in place to deal with them. Things like insurance, an Urgent Care, over-the-counter medications.

Similarly, you can expect to have financial hits and schedule changes. A car needs repairs or the air conditioning goes out. You can prepare for those to an extent through financial planning, knowing good repair companies, or having backup plans.

But what about the deep emotional blows from situations like a death of a family member? Or, maybe an illness like cancer? Could be, you have to experience both at the same time, and on top of that, you find yourself depressed. You’ve never been through this before. How do you plan and prepare for those times?

Let’s look at Hebrews 11:7 from the New American Standard Bible.

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household…”

How did Noah prepare for something “not yet seen”? Not only had Noah never seen it, no one had ever seen it. Can you imagine the plans, preparations, and work required to build a vessel big enough to carry all those animals? When you’ve never done anything like this before? While the world around you doesn’t understand and likely thinks you’re foolish?

What must Noah have been thinking his life would be like after the ark was completed? Did he have doubts? Did he realize his family and a ship full of animals would float for a full year with no land in sight? Was he scared?

Take a few seconds and think about it. If you’re like me, it’s hard to wrap our heads around it.

That’s okay.

All we need to know is he did it by faith. Noah relied on God to give him what he needed. The resources, the dimensions, the time, the courage, the ability—all from God.

You may face things “not yet seen”. You may be scared. You may wonder if God can handle what you’re going through. That’s okay. My encouragement is to have faith in God’s provision. He’s done it before—many times.

Read the rest of Hebrews 11 for examples of people, just like you and me, who did amazing things, through faith.

In whom do you place your faith? Let it be God.