Proverbs 22:3 says:

“The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences.”

Notice what the verse does not commend. It does not praise fear. It commends foresight. The shrewd person does not wait for disaster to arrive before acting. He anticipates reality and positions himself wisely.

Spiritual maturity includes preparation.

Most people prepare for predictable events—career, retirement, weather. Scripture asks a more searching question: What are we doing about the only certainty every human faces?

My brother was born with serious heart defects. From infancy, hospitals were not theoretical places; they were part of his landscape. Uncertainty was not abstract. It was woven into his life.

Yet he was not defined by vulnerability.

At fourteen years old, he chose to dedicate himself to Jehovah in baptism. That decision was not a reaction to crisis. It was the visible marker of something already formed within him. Conviction had settled early.

That was his contingency plan.

Ecclesiastes 11:2 states:

“Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight, for you do not know what disaster may occur on the earth.”

Solomon highlights uncertainty, not anxiety. You cannot eliminate every risk. You cannot predict every outcome. But you can position yourself spiritually before events unfold.

My brother did not wait for circumstances to stabilize before investing spiritually. He made that investment while health uncertainty remained a reality.

Years later, he worked for more than a decade assisting in the design of operating rooms—some in the very hospitals that had treated him. He enjoyed sports. He valued deep conversation. Friends describe him as steady and warm. He lived fully, not cautiously.

The early investment bore fruit over time.

And then there are Jesus’ words at John 11:25:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life.”

Notice how Jesus speaks. He does not deny death. He accounts for it. Faith is not built on avoiding mortality. It is built on confidence in what follows.

A contingency plan anticipates what may occur and prepares for it.

When serious health challenges returned later in life, there was no scrambling for spiritual footing. No last-minute negotiation. The foundation had been laid decades earlier.

He had already accounted for the possibility.