Emergency Preparedness
February 24, 2011
As a pastor I am sometimes asked, “Why do you need to be prepared? Don’t you trust God to take care of you?” And they quotes Scriptures like these:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“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? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6
Let me say that if this is your faith, I don’t have any problem with that. You do what you feel is best for you and your family. Personally, I think those Scriptures are dealing with something else. I think they are dealing with someone who puts his faith in themselves and their ability and in wealth. You can have all the money in the world and be prepared better than anyone else– and still be killed. One friend of mine, who lived in the Sacramento area, was well prepared. We went hiking a number of times in the Sierra’s together. He always had the best equipment. He was always prepared. In his home he had guns hidden in his coffee table and behind pictures and all over the place. It didn’t help him when his home was invaded and he was killed. The good news was he was prepared spiritually.
I think the Scriptures I quoted are dealing with trust and peace. We don’t have to be uptight and stressed out and worried. God knows us. He cares about us. He won’t let anything happen to us apart from His will. So the point is – spiritual preparedness is the most important preparation you can make.
The boy scouts have a motto: “Be prepared. "Be prepared for what?" someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, "Why, for any old thing." He said.
My cousin, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, when he instructs military or law enforcement personal, teaches them that the best antidote to stress is preparation. So on the one hand, I do believe we need to trust God. On the other hand, I think we need to be prepared. The wisest man who ever lived said,
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools devour all they have.”
(Proverbs 21:20)
Jesus said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.” Luke 14:28-32
Jesus is teaching us that the wise thing to do is to “count the cost”. In other words, he is teaching us we ought to think ahead, plan ahead, consider the consequences, and be prepared. This does a couple of things. It relieves stress in our lives, and enables us to help others. If you aren’t prepared – you are scrambling to take care of your own needs in an emergency situation. But if you ARE prepared – you can help others.
I want to talk about emergency preparedness in a couple of categories. First, emergency preparedness financially; secondly, Emergency preparedness in your vehicles; and thirdly, emergency preparedness in your home; and fourthly, personal emergency preparedness or self protection preparedness.
First, emergency preparedness financially. I am not going to talk much about this because we have such great resources here. Kevin Charter is an excellent resource to help in your financial planning. I will just say this: If you consume all you have – you are a fool! If you do not have a savings set away for times of leanness – you are a fool. Not MY words - That’s what the Bible teaches. Most of us are not able to have much of a savings, but we ought to have a little invested in silver or gold. We ought to have a few hundred dollars stuck away in a saving account or in the mattress, so to speak – just in case. We can never have enough saved up if we were to lose everything. But we can blunt the force of the financial blow.
Secondly, Emergency preparedness in our vehicles. Where I grew up, Northern Minnesota, people died every year because they were not prepared when they got stuck in the snow. Some died of exposure and some died of asphyxiation. When I lived in Nevada, some people were not prepared when their car broke down in the middle of nowhere. Here on the West Coast we hear of people getting stuck in the mountain passes and sometimes dying. Probably, you will never get into that kind of situation. But what happened to me - may happen to you. It was Christmas Eve in the late 70’s and we packed up the car to come to Mount Shasta to spend Christmas with the family. We lived in Nevada, and the day was a little cloudy, but not too threatening where we were. Nevertheless, I felt a check in my spirit. I threw some extra blankets in the car and some food to snack on. To make a long story short, the blizzard of the decade hit us and we spend two days in the car on Donor Pass. Because I was prepared, we weren’t too uncomfortable. We didn’t have to resort to cannibalism like a previous party did! The kids liked the adventure so much they wanted to do it on the way home.
Having an Emergency kit in your care may save your life. At the least, it can make an unpleasant situation more bearable. Brad is going to share with us an emergency pack for your vehicle.
Thirdly, Emergency Home Preparedness. I don’t have to tell you what may happen in the mountains. We have experienced it. Just after I first moved here, we had a warm spell just after Christmas with some heavy rain. It washed out the Highway and railroad tracks. We were isolated for a couple of days. Last winter we had a lot of power outages and some people, unprepared for it, lost their lives. Others, who had prepared themselves, considered it just a little bump in the road – or even a fun adventure. Being prepared makes all the difference in the world.
The list of what you may need to be prepared is quite extensive and varies from individual to individual. Some think we ought to be totally self-reliant indefinitely and others think we ought to be prepared for at least a week of surviving without power, or being able to travel. I will let you make the call for yourself. But here is what I recommend. To survive you need water, food and shelter.
At my house I have a pretty good stock of water. I have water in the hot tub, hot water heater, as well a stock of bottled water. Most of us have pretty good shelters, but what if the power goes out? A wood stove is a great. I have a few propane stoves for cooking and heating and they are great for camping, too. Think about having an emergency source of heat if the power goes out.
One area of preparation is to have emergency food storage. Our parents and grandparents knew the value of it. Nearly all of them had pantries or root cellars. I would recommend as a minimum that you be prepared for a month or two. Here’s some stuff that stores well:
Flour, Rice, canned meats, like spam, tuna, chicken, etc. Powdered soup, protein powder, dry milk, canned milk, salt, spices, powdered eggs and canned foods. Some of this stuff will last for years but it may be a good idea to rotate things periodically. Store the kind of food you like to eat. Don’t forget things like toilet paper and household items you can’t live without. Stock up on your medicines and have a good First Aid Kit, as well.
Many people have large pantries and emergency storage to last for years. Personally, I think you ought to have at least a months worth of food in storage. The best preparation is mental, though. Learning how to live off the land and what plants are edible in the wild is kind of a fun thing to do. And, who knows, it could save you and your families life.
The fourth area of emergency preparation is personal protection. I won’t say too much about it, but if you feel prepared for an attack on your person, it reduces stress and fear. No one can be prepared for everything, but a martial arts class, like judo, karate, boxing or one of any number of martial arts disciplines is a great way to stay in shape and it will give you more confidence. I also think a firearms class may be helpful in this area. Chris Ewens does some excellent training in that area. I recommend him. He will help you be safe and grow in confidence in this area.
I love the Bible and the accounts of mighty men of God. One guy was Benaiah. Listen to this:
“Benaiah, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.” 2 Samuel 23:20-21
A lot of people think Christians are sissies. Maybe some are – but don’t confuse meekness with weakness. Be prepared to defend yourself and family.
Being prepared is not the cure all. The biggest and bravest can be killed before they can use their training. But being prepared certainly doesn’t hurt either. And that brings me to the last and most important way to be prepared. Are you prepared spiritually? What if things really get bad? Are you prepared to die? Do you know for certain where you would spend eternity? If not, talk to your pastor. If you don’t belong to a church – find one. There are a lot of good churches out there. Get involved. You can be prepared in every way – but if you aren’t prepared spiritual – it’s all for nothing.
Thanks for letting me talk. Remember the five areas of emergency preparedness. 1. Financial, 2. Vehicular, 3. Food, 4. Personal, Spiritual.
May you be better prepared for anything that may happen in your future. It will alleviate stress and may save you or your family’s life.
