The Hidden Cost of Being “Almost Prepared” (And Why Most Christians Get Resource Stewardship Backwards)
You know that sinking feeling when you need something critical and it’s not there? The important conversation happens and you don’t have the reference at hand. The financial emergency hits and the resources are three steps removed. The ministry opportunity appears and you’re scrambling for tools that should already be within reach.
Most believers spend their entire lives fighting fires with inadequate equipment, telling themselves they’re being good stewards by “making do” with less. But here’s what I discovered researching ancient wisdom and modern resource management: there’s a massive difference between frugality and the poverty mindset that normalizes suboptimal solutions.
The Compound Tax of Distance
Every day you tolerate inferior tools, you’re paying three hidden taxes: the stress tax of unpreparedness, the time tax of resource hunting during crisis, and the financial tax of emergency pricing when urgency eliminates negotiation.
Most people don’t realize that Joseph’s genius wasn’t just storing grain—it was positioning granaries strategically throughout Egypt so provision was always within reach when famine struck. The distance between need and supply determined who survived and who perished.
Think about your own life. How many hours have you lost this year because essential resources weren’t positioned at the point of need? How many opportunities passed because you were “almost prepared” instead of truly ready?
The Wide-to-Narrow Principle
Here’s the pattern that transformed my understanding: wise stewards begin with intentional abundance when resources are available and circumstances favorable, then strategically concentrate as clarity emerges. It’s the opposite of how most people operate—starting narrow out of fear, then desperately scrambling to expand when crisis demands it.
David didn’t gather five smooth stones in the middle of facing Goliath. He positioned them before entering the valley. The emergency department doesn’t keep critical medications in a central location—they stock every trauma bay because seconds determine whether someone lives or dies.
The proximity principle saves lives. It also saves ministries, businesses, families, and futures.
Breaking the “Good Enough” Cycle
I spent years watching faithful people endure suboptimal performance simply because they’d normalized inadequate solutions. The pastor preparing sermons with insufficient reference materials. The ministry leader managing crises without proper emergency reserves. The family accepting “almost enough” while calling it wisdom.
But biblical stewardship isn’t about accepting less—it’s about positioning wisely. Proverbs celebrates the ant not for gathering a little, but for gathering abundantly during harvest to ensure provision during winter. That’s not hoarding. That’s wisdom.
The question isn’t whether to invest in proper resource positioning. The question is whether you’ll continue paying the compound cost of tolerating distance between your needs and your provisions.
Positioning for the Coming Season
What struck me most in studying this principle was how it applies to our current moment. We’re entering a season where supply chains are fragile, emergencies are increasingly common, and the prepared will have what the unprepared will desperately seek.
This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s the same wisdom that led Joseph to prepare during abundance for the famine he knew was coming. Noah didn’t wait for rain to build the ark.
In my research on practical resource positioning for families and ministries, I came across something that perfectly embodies these principles: Joseph’s Well. It’s a solution that addresses the most fundamental resource of all—fresh water—using technology developed in the deserts of Israel to pull water literally from the air itself.
What fascinated me wasn’t just the technology, but how it represents the exact stewardship principle we’ve been discussing: positioning critical provision at the point of need before crisis demands it.
The Steward’s Question
The real question isn’t whether to invest in strategic resource positioning. It’s whether you’ll act while resources are available and urgency is low, or wait until scarcity drives prices higher and options narrower.
Every day of delay is another day paying the hidden taxes of unpreparedness. The sooner you position essential provisions within reach, the faster you move from reactive scrambling to proactive stewardship.
Discover how this principle applies to your family’s most critical resource, and you’ll see exactly what biblical stewardship looks like in practical application for the season ahead.
The wise steward doesn’t wait for drought to position the well.
