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In honor of National Preparedness Month (coming up in September), I’ve decided to write some posts about if/why Christians should prepare for potential emergencies. This topic has been on my heart for a while now, mainly because I have felt the urgent need to prepare for something. Over the summer I even conducted my own personal Bible study about preparedness and God’s people. Should we prepare? Or is preparation a waste of time that steals our spiritual focus?
For each post, I’ll write a few paragraphs or more highlighting biblical preparedness, and then conclude with a preparedness tip and a helpful website or book. I’m praying that the Lord will guide our hearts into His wisdom, as we all have different preparedness needs depending on geographical location and the nature of an unknown emergency.
And that brings me to the first major point: Without the Holy Spirit working among us, our preparation will be empty. Or put another way – the Holy Spirit makes our preparation efforts successful.
Noah is the ultimate example of Spirit-filled preparedness. In Genesis 6 we hear that Noah was a righteous man who walked with God. Then a few verses later we see these words, “So God said to Noah…” And then “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
Noah didn’t second-guess God or His instructions, even though it must have been difficult. He didn’t strike out on his own to build an underground shelter because he thought it would make more sense. He didn’t fall into a deep depression and do nothing, and he didn’t scoff at his imagination over a strong drink.
Noah heard God, and obeyed. When was the last time you heard God? Were you listening? Will you obey?
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Hebrews 11:7
PREPAREDNESS TIP#1: If you do nothing else, get together a basic emergency kit for your family. It should include first aid supplies, flashlights with extra batteries, and enough water and non-perishable food to support your family for at least three days.
HELPFUL RESOURCE: emergency kit basics from READY.gov – the federal government’s emergency planning website.
I’ve been MIA from the blogging world lately, and while I’ve missed writing my own blog, commenting, and regularly reading others, this last part of summer has been a blast — mostly offline, if you can imagine such a thing. Here’s why:
1) Structured “free time” with the kids. We didn’t enroll our children in hundreds of camps this year, or plan activities for every day of the summer. I believe in the value of play! But anyone with kids knows that total free play can be a problem. Entire rolls of toilet paper stuck in the toilet, whole bottles of new hair product used for “experiments,” and so on. Yes, we’ve had some of that. But we’ve also been to the library, spent hours at the park and the pool, played with trucks and dolls, made crafts, and cooked together. We had some hard days, too. Some difficult lessons about being kind to each other, or doing for yourself what you can (and not always asking Mom or Dad), about respecting others. We’ve had tantrums (not just the kids), and were cross with each other. But important lessons come from those times, too. And I’m glad we took the time to both play and learn together.
2) Friends. Historically friendships can be difficult for me. I come across as a very social person, and in many ways I am. But I’m also fairly introspective and value personal space for both myself and our family. This summer God has blessed me with some great friendships and I pray that those continue to grow as we go back to our own routines.
3) A chance to participate in God’s story. Some totally unexpected ministry opportunities came our way this summer, and it’s always exciting to see God work and to be a part of it.
4) Time to build great family memories. Camping on our property in West Texas, the beach/boating with one set of grandparents, Oklahoma fun with another set, and a baseball game with yet another. Home birthday parties, church events, Six Flags, going to the movie theater on a hot summer afternoon. Riding bikes together at the school down the street, our youngest with no training wheels! Snow cones, countless popsicles, cookouts, fireworks…
It’s been a great summer, and I’m sad to see it go. But I’m also excited to see what God brings our way next, what adventure or discipline He has in store.
(by the way, there’s a terrible ruckus in my house right now. I just asked them, “what are you doing?” Their response? “Fighting, but HAVING FUN!”)
It’s back-to-school time, and people of all ages are preparing for the next level in their studies. At church on Wednesday evenings I’ve been teaching a summer Bible class for five year-olds entering kindergarten. While making snakes and cut-out letters with scented homemade play-dough (a smell that reminds me of strawberry Pop-Tarts), I asked the kids if they are excited about going to school. A couple of the girls nodded eagerly, as one rambunctious little boy shouted, “NO! I hate school!”
But they are ready to go, because it’s time for them to learn something new.
In high school and college, we keep track of our progress by counting credit hours. Once you’ve completed a certain number of credit hours per required subject, then you’re able to move on to the next thing. We go from pre-algebra to algebra, from pre-cal to calculus, then to calculus II. Once you’ve mastered (or at least passed) a subject, you earn a set amount of credit hours.
Kinda makes me wonder — does God have a credit hour system? How many do I have?
I’ve always been a bit nerdy and I will just go ahead and say it: I love and will always enjoy learning. In high school I liked science so much that I wanted to learn at the college level, so I audited a class at the local community college. According to one college website, this is what happens when someone audits a class: “students who wish to attend a class without working for or expecting to receive formal credit may register to audit the course. Students who audit a course may not participate in class, do not take examinations, and do not submit papers.”
Hmmmm — all of the fun learning, but none of the responsibility. No one calling on me to answer questions, no cramming for exams — just sitting back in class sipping on my latte, soaking up the information. But on the down-side, there’s no credit hours, no way to claim the effort, no way to move on to the next level.
Please don’t audit your own spiritual growth. Many of us have been going to church for years, passively soaking up all that great information. Bible studies, prayer groups, accountability partners, retreats, ministry fairs, outreach opportunities, special donations of time or money, food drives, I could go on and on. Unlike our Christian friends in China, we have spiritual classes coming out our ears and we’re auditing them all. Not mastering anything, not participating fully in our true calling, neither working for nor expecting to receive formal credit for our spiritual progress.
This needs to change, in me and in you. Do the work! Participate fully! Show up for the exam! Then claim your credit hours and move on to the next level, because life is too short for anything else.
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:12-14
