ARE YOU READY FOR THE STORM?

Rumors of wars, famine and destruction have been a part of our history since it was first recorded. Actual battles, disaster and heartbreak are found in history books collecting dust in libraries no longer visited, but those pages remain true testaments to what has been predicted and what has taken place.

I wrote about preparing for the storm the other day and I realized, I had so much more brewing in this head of mine. I asked myself, "Are you ready for the storm?" It's out there. Simmering, slowly boiling, right under our noses, but we just don't know how to prepare for it, what to do, what to believe and how to face it. We read about people who have lived preparing for what is to come and realize, "Man, I don't have anything!"

So, what if all that is being talked about takes place? What if things like economic breakdowns, financial crisis, lack of food, and things like martial law truly begin to happen in our neighborhoods. What if one day our money loses value, the food in our pantry goes bare, we run out of medical supplies, and we are asked to throw our faith to the fire by declaring it a lie and the only reality being the one we live? What if? What if we're asked to decide who we will follow, our faith or the ones who can supply the needs of our children for the rest of their lives? What would we do if we had nothing and everything before us was only  a choice away?What if we were challenged to forsake God and accept this world's ideas as the only ideas and ways of thinking?

One thing I do know. I am not going to live out my life in fear. Ready or not, here I am and here I come. I have no other choice than to live each day trusting that God's promises to provide for us in our times of need is real, that His promises to protect us no matter what we face is trustworthy, and that He is who He says He is because of what has happened in my heart from the moment I surrendered it to Him.

I have always wanted to be ahead of the game. Circumstances have not allowed me to be prepared for some thing the way I wish I could be, but one thing I ask of the Lord, prepare our hearts to recognize You are in the center and the midst of our situations. Help us to hold out in faith until the end. I will trust in the Lord through the storms that come. I will place my hope in His Word. My confidence and my assurance are in Him alone.

And, maybe, just maybe, in a naive way, that is my declaration of being prepared. I will place my hope in Him.