A few years ago on the evening news, there was a report about a news photographer who was also a skydiver. While on an assignment to take a video of a group of skydivers in action, he jumped out of the plane seconds after his subjects. From his diving position, he began filming as they fell and opened their parachutes just ahead of him. As the final skydiver opened his chute, the picture went berserk.

The TV announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death. He had jumped out of the plane without his parachute. It wasn’t until he reached for his ripcord that he realized he was freefalling without a parachute. Until that point, the jump had probably been exciting, fun and fulfilling but, tragically, he had been hasty, careless and foolish. Nothing at that point could save him because he’d put his faith in a parachute that was never buckled on.

Although I’m tempted to apply that gripping story to those of us who think we’re secure in God but have never really committed our lives to His care, I won’t. Rather, I see the careless skydiver as a picture of those who want success so badly they can taste it but, in their haste to attain it, fail to properly prepare themselves.

Three questions must be answered before any of us should begin moving along the pathway toward good success. Can we handle it when we get it? Have we done our homework? Are we prepared to jump when opportunity knocks?

Can we handle it when we get it? I ask this question of the thousands of contestants of shows such as Canadian Idol and people who buy lottery tickets. What would happen to us if we actually landed the big prize?

A few friends and family members were over at our house for a barbecue one Sunday afternoon. While we were eating and talking, a big fat rat ran across our garden, only a few feet from the table. The girls screamed but before any of us could really react with a thoughtful plan, one of our guests (a young man in his twenties) dove into the bushes to try to catch the rat. I asked him when he reappeared empty handed, “Dave, what would you have done if you’d caught the rat?”

I remember several years ago, a family won the beautiful PNE home. It was a great news story how they moved from poverty into their extravagant new home. Less than a year later, Susan and I drove by their prize home and both the yard and house were in shambles. They achieved apparent success but weren’t ready for it.

We like instant gratification these days — whether it’s popcorn, pizza, furniture or sex, we don’t like waiting. But good success takes time.

In the time it takes to get to us, we’ve been given an ideal opportunity to thoughtfully prepare for its arrival.

Barry Buzza (www.barrybuzza.com and http://barrybuzza.blogspot.com) is senior pastor at Northside church in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.