Practice when it is easy so you do well when it is hard
Pilots, sailors, and many other professions routinely practice emergency procedures, so if they face an emergency they know what to do and have done it successfully in the past.
Pilots practice flying on instruments (needed for bad weather) when the weather is good, using a hood to restrict their vision, and with a qualified pilot in the right seat.
Christians need to practice also
God tells us to keep His statues and practice them. And He sanctifies us.
You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. (Leviticus 20:8)
Skills don’t start full-blown. When children start walking, they fall, get up, and walk again. Similarly, we don’t live perfect Christian lives as soon as we are saved. (Don’t you wish?!)
Spiritually, we need to practice as well. Work at thanking and trusting God, for example, when faced with “small” issues so trusting Him in a tragedy comes readily.
For example
It is a beautiful day for your picnic. Thanking and trusting God comes easy.
You’ve planned a special celebration at a park … but it is sleeting. Thanking and trusting God is harder, but we must thank and trust.
A hurricane or tornado damages your community, and/or your home. He is the same good God, with the same holy, loving purposes for you, His child. Thank and trust Him that He will use that difficult event to make you into the image of His Son.
Set your heart
We must determine to thank and trust Him when it is a beautiful day, developing the habit to thank and trust Him when it is hard and we don’t understand.
Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. (Ezra 7:10)
He is worthy.
