Posted on 09/23/2014 6:13:35 AM PDT by WXRGina
This is a difficult column to write. It may earn me scorn from fellow conservatives who strongly trust in their hard-earned, stored provisions. But, it is a subject that has weighed on my mind. The question concerns Christians, not unbelievers. Is serious “prepping” something Christians should do? Prepping, as you may know, is the laying up of food, water, weapons, ammunition and other supplies for the event of future disaster, commonly referred to in the prepper community by the initials SHTF (“stuff” hits the fan).
There are Christian prepper communities. According to one such Christian website entry:
The prepper sees the imminent collapse of the American dollar, hyperinflation, breakdown of society and the [disintegration] of the city infrastructure such as roads, transportation, telecommunication, water supply, electricity, gas, etc. They start storing food, water, batteries for survival, and even guns and ammunition for protection of their hoardings. Many are looking for lands to buy and so the prices of farmlands and rural acreages have been driven up tremendously. Preppers are increasing in numbers every day in America, so some have called it the Prepper nation.
… Most preppers are mainly concerned about their physical wellbeing during bad times and disasters, so they focus on stocking up food, drinks, batteries and other items that are required for survival. Some are buying gold, silver and other precious metals as hedges against the U.S. Dollar and economic collapse. Others go further by looking for farmlands and equipment for renewable energy such as solar and wind powered generators. All these kinds of preparation are highly essential when the Great Tribulation occurs, but there are other more important things to consider as well.
The piece goes on to express the importance of being spiritually prepared in Christ. It admonishes us to not do our prepping out of fear.
The Bible tells us that God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. What seems wise and right to us is not necessarily so, because the only true wisdom is God’s wisdom. The Lord is infinitely higher than we are, and our very limited minds cannot grasp the depth of the knowledge and wisdom of God, although as we seek His wisdom, He gives it to us, and we grow in it. The world tells us there is wisdom in laying up provisions for bad times to come, and there are also examples in Scripture of this, as in God warning Joseph in Pharaoh’s dream to store grain before the famine in Egypt, and God advising Noah to build the ark and load provisions into it for the duration of the flood. What else does the Bible say about this?
In Matthew 6:19-21 (KJV), Jesus says:
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Further on in verses 25 and 31-34, Jesus continues:
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
… 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
That passage makes it clear that the Lord wants us to put our faith in Him alone. Does that mean God does not want us to be serious preppers? In defense of prepping, some might point to Proverbs 21:20 (NIV):
The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.
Is that an admonition to hoard, or more of a general comparison of the behavior of the wise man and the foolish man? Proverbs is full of such comparisons of the wise and foolish and the Godly and wicked.
The Bible stresses the importance of work and the folly of laziness. However, there is a big difference between hardcore prepping and laziness. Just because some of us may not be serious preppers does not mean we’re lazy. There are many of us who have thought about prepping but have little to no space for storing a lot of provisions. Neither does everyone have enough money to spend on extra supplies, other than a little here and there, although even without much money, you could still build up quite a collection over time.
Is prepping in keeping with God’s instructions for us? Not if you look to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6. But, if we do choose to prepare, how much is enough? Three to six months’ stockpile of food, water and other supplies? How could we ever know how much we would need? The answer is that we can’t know, and I believe therein lies the key to the whole issue. I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with prepping, but as Christians, our faith must not be in our supplies or our ability to procure them. God makes it clear that He wants to be the sole object of our faith and trust. Seek Him first, and “all these things will be added unto you.” All we have comes from Him. “Unhealthy” prepping is when it becomes more important to us than trusting the Lord to know what’s coming and what we will need.
Psalms 37 is a marvelous chapter that contrasts the righteous with the wicked. It declares that the man who trusts in God will be taken care of by the Lord in every way, but the wicked will quickly perish, even though for a time it seems that the wicked prosper. In verses 23-25 (KJV), David writes:
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
The Lord knows what’s coming, and He knows what we will need. He will give Christians the things we need when we need them. I’m not advocating lying down and “doing nothing,” because I don’t believe prepping is a bad thing, but we must keep it in perspective. While prepping can be a great help in certain situations, it is not what saves us or takes care of us. Only the Lord does that, and while we may choose to be preppers, as Christians, we must always keep our focus on Him.
You are asking the wrong question.
Daily I am amazed at all of God’s creation. I delight at watching ants, all hard at work as a team, collecting and storing provisions for lean times. I get angry at the injustice of the grasshopper that comes along and takes what it wants from those who have worked hard.
In all of the animal kingdom you see examples of opposite behaviour. Some species care for their young while other species abandon or eat their young. Some animals mate for life while others jump from mate to mate offering no loyalty, captives to their own base desires. We say they are exhibiting animalistic behaviour. They have no choice. We as human beings do have a choice as we are endowed with free will and the ability to observe all of creation and make a conscious choice as to how we want to live.
It seems that all of the mechanisms of liberal, socialist society, from media to public education, are trying to convince us to be our base self. They tell those who need an excuse not to do the work to be their higher self - if it feels good, do it and don’t feel guilty. People who fall for that are more easily controlled and exploited.
So the real question you should be asking yourself is: am I an ant or a grasshopper?
Prep to keep yourself alive so you can help others focus on The Lord.
Thought you and those on your list would be interested in contributing to this thread.
7 years is NOT the issue.
The point is instructive to not waste times of plenty, but store up for times of need.
A much bigger question for Christians is, what do we do for a living, and what do we do at work, not prepping.
Most of the bad things we do, we do at work, for money.
Again, you seem to be missing my point. Nowhere do I say we shouldn’t be good stewards and wise like our grandparents—nowhere. That’s not what I’m talking about.
What I call “doomsday” prepping is the EXTREME prepping for an event such as a complete societal breakdown, apocalyptic in nature, NOT the ordinary storing up your garden vegetables for the few winter months. Storing up green beans and summer squash is much different than storing a bunker with tons of guns and ammunition, gas masks, seven years’ worth of MREs, water system, etc. out of fear of a massive disaster.
Seven years.
In that case the first step, I suggest, would be to prepare your heart.
"And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD." 2 Ch 12:14
You, me and others miss God's direction because we get busy and don't seek Him....I missed Him speaking to me and it cost me dearly but now I see He tried to tell me before. On the other hand I've missed serious injury, maybe worse, because I was listening at His prompt and responded.
So the real question you should be asking yourself is: am I an ant or a grasshopper?
I'm not asking the wrong question. As I said elsewhere, this is not about being a good steward and a hard worker or being a slob.
Extreme prepping--doomsday prepping--is what I'm talking about, not being the good ant who is prepared for the winter. This is ultimately about where we place our faith--in the work of our hands or in the Lord.
Yes, that’s the main point of the column—that our trust must be in the Lord.
It seems to me that you are getting caught up in symantics. Think about this. The "mentality" I'm talking about (my grandparents time and before) included a well with a windmill to pump water as well as rain collected in a cistern. Water was filtered through a sand filter when needed. They had no electricity whatsoever. They had seven sons each with their own shotgun and or rifle. Flour for bread etc was milled from wheat that they grew. Animals were used for work and transportation as well as food. They grew crops from seed saved from the year before. Wool was spun into thread for sewing clothes and leather was made from hides of cattle slaughtered and the meat used for food. Anything they were not able to produce themselves such as salt and sugar was purchased for the next year with profits from produce sold at harvest time. They weren't doing that out of fear of some disaster but was a natural lifestyle.
Now, don't get me wrong. I do realize that a lifestyle like that is certainly not fully possible for most today. Although it is for more than would admit it or be willing to work toward at least a great extent of. I'm talking about the self sufficiency attitude. I only have 2 1/2 acres here but have most of that self sufficiency established. It's only my wife and I now so I give away what I can and could grow more or allow others to have a garden here and even teach them if needed. Our meals now cost us less then $1 each and we don't yet mill our own flower or butcher our own beef. I do butcher all of our other meat which consists of chicken, rabbit, turkey, pork and home grown tilapia in an aquaponics system. I don't do it out of fear but because its healthier and much cheaper.
That all said. I would be much less affected by a "disastor" unless it directly impacted this locality in which case I trust and rely on God to supply. Rather than think in terms of "doomsday prepper" I simply choose a different lifestyle which ends up working better and more naturally than the thought processes thought of today. This type of lifestyle has been in existence for much longer than the lifestyles of today.
Winters and times of lack have been known to last more than a season.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Would you prefer others to the best of their abilities prepare for a rainy day thereby being able to help those around them? Or are you okay with those who use any excuse not to prepare or be responsible and who will eventually drag down those around them? Which do you choose to be - a help or a hindrance?
It seems to me that you are looking for support in your critical judgement of those who choose to prep for a long time line. What does it matter to you if people choose to prep instead of say buying a new car, going on vacation, or constantly obtain the latest electronic device? It’s their money they are spending. I choose not to judge those who feel comfortable with a seven year prep. I would be happy to have them as my neighbours and friends. I am very wary in regards to those in society who do not make the right choices and instead demand that those who do subsidise them in their wicked ways. I judge the meth head who would come to my house to steal everything including the copper pipes, not a prepper who truly is minding his own business. Is the meth head going to be able to do God’s work in a survival situation or will it be preppers who come to the aid of those they see around them who even though they are working hard are still in need?
You need to get over your judgement and yes jealousy of those you perceive to be prepping too much. You come across as a leftist - how dare they have more than the rest of us!
One more thing... I put my faith in the fact that God had given me a healthy body and a work ethic to match. You can’t be a prepper without a good work ethic. That is my gift and seems to be the gift of every prepper I’ve met, including the ones on FR who freely give of their time and advice to help those who will listen. Are you also suggesting we waste the gifts so generously given by our Creator? I see God in every prepper I know through their actions and deeds. Finding God in those who have made sloth an art form, from politicians to drug addled welfare recipients, not so much. Why don’t you spend your gift of writing convincing those people to change their ways? That planting would bear fruit for all of society.
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” - George Bernard Shaw
The short answer is yes.
?????
That's all I need to read to understand your comments--to understand that you completely misunderstand the whole point of my column. There is NO judgmentalism toward preppers in it. I'm asking honest questions, but you don't seem to get that. I assume you read the column, though. Maybe you didn't.
My statement stands for itself.
That is an excellent scripture for this thread. When you consider that for every quote from the Bible you can find another conveying the opposite thought, I think the best quote to apply to this thread would be, “Love one another.”
And what better way to do that then to feed someone when they are hungry because you were the one doing the forward thinking and the hard work. I have yet to meet a single prepper who was doing it for themselves. Every prepper I know whether they have seven weeks, seven months, or seven years worth of preps are doing it for the people around them whom they love. That and that alone tells me everything I need to know about them.
Thanks for all of your posts Kart and add me to your ping list.
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