(How) Should Christians Prep?
We can’t deny that right now the world is on fire. And while there are still a few that say things will get better, the vast majority of us know that what has been set in motion cannot be reversed for years to come. That means, difficult things will be happening more and more at an accelerated rate. It’s a mathematical certainty.
What are the people of God to do? There are two distinctive, well, three camps that people fall into.
1) Prep food and gear to the rafters.
This is based on scriptures like when the Israelites were in Joseph’s time were Pharaoh was led to prepare 7 years for a terrible famine that would cover the land (Gen 41).
Or the Scripture in Proverbs that says this:
Proverbs 22:3
The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
Proverbs 21:20 says: ” In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil; but the foolish man devours all he has”.
Then there is the
2)’ Just trust God’ camp.
They base this upon the Scripture to not worry what you will eat or drink, but trust that your heavenly father will take care of you. Mt 6:25-27
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Some others would add that Jesus is going to come rapture his people before it gets bad so don’t worry, he will save us from such hard times. (1 Thess 1:9-10)
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The third group I would say is the group that is
3) We’ll deal with it when it comes
This is similar to the trust God group, but it is more
Matthew 6:11
Give us today our daily bread.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;
All three of these camps use Scripture to support their premise. And there’s valid reasons for each.
So what is the right response?
To answer this we need to again go back to the Israelites in and coming out of Egypt and part of the story that is missed. While they were in Egypt initially, God gave Pharaoh dreams that pointed out a terrible famine that would come through the land for 7 years. Joseph was able to interpret the dream and after he was raised to power, they began prepping accordingly.
But this isn’t the only time food security was an issue.
Four hundred years later God was delivering the Israelites from Egypt. He told them to take all the gold and silver from their neighbors, that was fine. But then when the food ran out, he provided them manna from heaven. It was to be what sustained them for years to come. But with it came very clear instructions.
Gather only 1 omer [measurement] of manna each day except the day before the Sabbath, gather 2 quarts so you can rest on the Sabbath. Ex 16
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
God gave the people specific instructions, 1) don’t gather more or less than what I command you and 2) don’t keep any of it until morning. Of course they disobeyed and things went bad.
What do learn from this story?
That we have to be led of God. God leads us differently for different situations. In one season the Israelites were to prep. In another season they were commanded not to prep but to trust him. We must each ask ourselves, what is God saying to me?
Trust God regardless of how he leads us.
If he leads us to prep, then we trust Him for the provision and ability to do so. If he leads us not to prep, then that too takes a lot of faith. Perhaps even more than an attempt at total self-reliance. Truly.
Believe God for miracles. Difficult times are nothing new. There have been seasons of famine, war and disease throughout history. God has helped his people in many miraculous ways. It doesn’t mean no one will die, but he has provided manna from heaven, multiplied the loaves and fishes, and provided a net full of fish that turned Peter’s heart. We do our best to obey God how he leads us, then trust Him for where we have lack. He loves and cares for us.
We must prepare for generosity. There are several scriptures on hoarding when there is need and examples of generosity among terrible times. - The man who stored away in barns - The widow - The clear commands of proverbs and James - I read comments online from people saying, “I’ve warned my friends and family and if they don’t prep, it’s their problem.” Proof from the Bible? The 10 virgins.
Conclusion:
I do believe that terrible times are here. The mistake is swaying to one of two-extremes—total self-reliance or indifference and passivity. Either can be deadly. This truly is the season where we need to MUST be asking God, “what would you have me to do?” Then respond with quick obedience. The storm is coming and the rain has already started. How is he leading you?
Proverbs 14:32
When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.
