“Are we there yet?” This is the question we ask as we think about all the crazy things we have been experiencing lately. And it’s not over, not by any stretch of the imagination. Question is, how do we prepare for the future that is before us?
Is it food preservation?
Is it about generators?
Is it about firearms?
Is it about natural medicine?
Is it about gardening and canning?
My answer–sure, couldn’t hurt.
But know this:
No matter how we try and have a plan in place for any contingency, we will not be able to protect ourselves from every possible tragedy.
It’s great to know how to grow your own food. The art of canning and preserving is also more than necessary, it is fun and profitable. Generators, renewable fuels, natural medicine, even firearms, are great for survival during unstable times.
However, these are never going to be enough.
You can store enough toilet paper to last 20 years, but folks in Texas who had their pipes frozen and busted will tell you that when toilet paper gets wet, it’s useless. Jars of peaches break. Anything metal rusts.
Besides, how do you know what will be in demand and what will be in abundance? What skills will you need? Who will you need to know? Where will you be safe when there are earthquakes and other natural disasters?
For many years we were asleep in some dystopian dream of a great life on planet earth. This last year, and the beginnings of this year, have awakened us to some great realities.
And God has done it. It has been Him who gave us a little kick to open our eyes. Status quo will no longer work. We can no longer trust our eyes and our senses if we want to keep our sanity. We must walk by FAITH and not by sight.
There is only One Person Who knows the answers to our questions. He is The First and The Last, and only He knows the end from the beginning. The only way to be sure of the future, to be able to make the right moves at the right moment, is to have information only He knows.
And how can you have this inside information? Only one way–you have to know Him, as a Person, as Friend, as your greatest confidant, as your Way, and your Truth and your Life.
No more thinking we can get away with Psalm 23 and the Lord’s prayer when we’re really, really in the thick of a problem. Throw away the practice of sending up a sincere prayer when we are inspired, or thinking we can get away with making some church services, or at least watching online.
Jesus is no longer an “add on.” He must be the center of our lives, what everything else is built around.
And we need to be clued in to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
There is so much that needs to be said about the voice of the Holy Spirit. Let me start by relating a recent incident when I heard Him clearly.
I was driving to get my son from work at midnight. It was about 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the streets were snow-packed, but it was much warmer than the previous nights of -25 temperatures. All-of-a-sudden the thought of deer on the road came to my mind. I had only seen deer on this road once in the past, but the idea put me on the alert and made me slow down so I would be able to stop quickly on the icy road if a deer should suddenly jump out in front of me.
Then, on the way back from picking my son up, there on the side of the road was a dead deer that had obviously been hit by a vehicle. When I turned down my street there were three more deer walking together.
Coincidence? Not at all. I was praying at the time the idea of deer came into my mind. I know it was the Holy Spirit, as I have had these urgings many times before.
This is the way we are going to have to live in these last days. We are going to have to have our senses tuned in to the Holy Spirit within us the way we fine-tune a radio to receive a broadcasting station. And this is going to be for the small stuff, not just the big stuff like where to move or who to marry.
“Just how do we tune in?” I hear you saying.
Here are some great scriptures for this:
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
Wow! This is the promise we can claim. This is the hope we can have of God actually speaking to us in real time about our real lives.
Yes, it takes faith. You have to believe that God really wants to talk to you. Then you learn His voice.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
John 10:27
And how do we get to know His voice? First, by training our minds to hear it.
This is not automatic. Our minds are full of loads of information, and the underlying patterns are after this life, the conditioning of the devil’s system and our natural flesh. The work we must do to hear His voice takes drastic measures:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2
And those drastic measures of transformation begin with death–death to our desires and our ways. We willingly offer ourselves as a sacrifice because of the sacrifice He made for us:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1
This takes studying His Word, the Bible. This will not mean just a few minutes in a devotional at the beginning of the day. If our hearts are hungry enough, 3 hours of concentrated reading (spread throughout the day) and hours or inactive engagement will not seem hard to do.
It also takes a commitment to keeping our minds on Him.
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3
I know this sounds extreme. I know it means we may have to give up movies and surfing and social media posts. To be honest, most of us don’t have three hours of concentrated time to spend in the Bible. God understands just where we are and He will show us ways we can keep up our responsibilities while weaving His Word into those spaces we once used for phone time etc.
Along with this is prayer.
This is focused and concentrated and geared towards listening. I know it seems an impossibility for a mom with small children, but where there is a will, there is a way. I know I found it, even when I had three children under three years old! If you have a burning desire to pray and hear from Him, ask Him, and He will show you how to make it happen.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.
If we have been paying attention to the times, we know we can’t go back to sleep.
Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:14-15
In the near future we are going to go through more changes. Some will be horrifically tragic, others will be glorious beyond our wildest imagination. Either way, a so-so Christianity will not prepare us for what is ahead.
It’s no longer “Jesus and…” it is “Jesus ONLY.”
Time for games is over. It is only with this commitment that we will be able to navigate through the future with our love and peace in tact.
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
Revelation 2:26
Thank you very much for this lovely post. It is exactly what I need it to read… Yes! I need to put the Lord as my first priority. I’m such a little proud woman who believes I can do good things if I work hard enough.
I’m so glad the Lord is using you to reach people like me.
God bless you and your beautiful family.
I totally understand the tendency to “muscle through.” So thankful God loves us enough to correct us with His unfailing love❤️
Awesome Word of truth. Thank you, thank you for being senstive to the Holy Spirit and deliver “a word in season”. So refreshing.
My pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to comment❤️
Thank you. What a timely post! It was what I needed.
Oh my! Can you believe this was on my heart and mind last night?! I am new to “tuning in” to the Holy Spirit, and your post is right on time! Like you said…Coincidence? Not at all! Wonderful post, thank you.
Hallelujah!
As the deer pants for the water So my soul longs for God. I find that an hour flies by in His presence and I long for just one more minute, and yet my day calls. Three, yes, and more. Always longing for more.
One of the words that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me and placing in my path over and over this year is ‘deer’. You could have chosen any story to illustrate your point, but the Spirit lead you to that particular story. It is beautiful and awe-inspiring to watch how intricately-woven our lives become when we listen to the subtle promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is alive and He absolutely speaks just as you have described here. If we will simply believe and listen.
Coincidence? I think not(as well), my friend. God bless!
How precious–amazing how He weaves us together! We are one in the Spirit 🙂
Thank you! One of the best messages I’ve seen lately. God bless you!
You’re welcome! Hallelujah!
Amen!
Thank you for the truth of these words at a time when there are so many voices shouting. My husband and I have been watching many loved ones caught up in the frenzy of preparedness and wondered where we should be in all of this. Our prayer has been to be able to hear the Spirits voice in these times. We need to be where He is working and have our priorities in line with what He is doing. Thank you again!! I shared this article with several family members.
It’s so true. I think we are doing things just because it is so hard to wait for what may or may not be coming. But today God was emphasizing to us to wait on Him.
You have expressed so many of the thoughts I’ve been having lately & echoing the discussions I’ve been having with my husband. So many times in the middle of the night I have prayed back to God the verse in Isaiah that you mentioned. “You will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way, walk in it.” Thank you for this post. It makes me feel less alone in my thinking. ♥️
You are welcome. He is relating this same message to many of his children at the same time, so we are not alone at all 🙂
Thank you for this. I have said before that getting caught up in “preps” will eventually become an idol; we’ll begin to focus on what we can do and what we store (the things that rust, and moths, and fire can destroy; things thieves can steal) and forget all about the One Who Can Do It All… And I have. Over the past few years, I convinced myself that ‘clothing my children in scarlet’ was the epidomy of godly momness, and I have been proven right each time there’s a power outage, or the roads are icy and food cannot make it to market, or the grocery store is barren… I focus hard on academics so no one can say that my children would be better off in government schools, admittedly sometimes at the expense of relationship- or character-building, and my children “excel.” I still don’t think these things are necessarily wrong in and of themselves, except for my heart.
This just struck me. Hard. I have become a Martha, and in all my business and trying to be the best I can be, I’ve actually forgotten to rely on the only One who can truly nourish, myself and my family. I have forgotten that it’s not just my job to teach, but also to be taught; not just to provide for but also to accept provision. Disciple – both a verb and a noun which I will do my best to allow to define me. I will continue to do what is best for my family and to the best of my ability, but I will do it with a more contrite and humble heart. Thank you, and I hope my fellow Martha’s will remember to Mary as well.
Funny story; one icy day my husband, as predictable as the sun rising in the east, felt, for some reason, he should take a different route home this time. On the way, he saw an older man trudging on the sidewalk, bundled as could be. My husband pulled over to offer him a ride and before he got in the car the stranger’s response was, “Are you a Christian? I was just praying for you!” Apparently he had missed his bus, and was praying someone would come along to help him home before the weather got worse. The Lord sees us and even before we pray, sets into motion the very things we need. My husband blessedly followed the strange feeling to abandon his usual path and the man was spared.
This is so right on! God has been telling me the same thing–more Mary, less Martha–loved that sweet story at the end 🙂