Preparing For The Times

We are living in the closing days of the earth and we need to understand what is required on our part so that we can prepare ourselves for the last time events. We rely on the government for making arrangements for our food or water supplies and other necessary things for our living. When there happens to be any catastrophe or natural disaster we can do nothing more than waiting for help from government agencies, although the government plays it's role and duties, we can not solely rely on it when the magnitude of the catastrophe is more than what can be managed. We have developed dependency not only on the basic necessities of life to be provided like food, water etc. but also on the modern life style, which include electronic gadgets, electricity, supermarkets etc. In any natural disaster, all the basic necessity things as well as the electrical supplies are the most affected, and in any such scenario, we should be ready to deal with the shortage of the elementary things. When we think of or read of any such incident taking place, we think it will never happen to us, and image of the catastrophe in our mind is that taking place in remote areas, where tribal population lives. We live in the comfort of our modern homes, it can not happen here, right? Unfortunately, that is not true, we can face a calamity anywhere in the world. The recent earthquake of Japan is an example that caused severe damage, March 15, 4 days after the disaster, 850,000 households (nearly 2 million people) were without electricity in freezing weather and another 1.5 million without running or drinking water. Many supermarket shelves were empty. There were 2 km (1.2 mile) long queues / four-hour waits at some gas stations. Some people have been forced to live hand-to-mouth, surviving on shared instant noodles, rice crackers and rice balls.

How can we prepare ourselves to be ready to face the last time events? Disaster wears many faces. It can be a hurricane, a flash flood, an earthquake, tsunami or a financial crisis. Surviving and thriving during adverse events takes more than a vague idea of 'doing something, going somewhere and waiting for the government to take care of me.' Surviving a disaster takes planning and preparation. During an emergency, all levels of government may be overwhelmed with managing the crisis. Government help may not reach you and your family for days. Being able to meet your basic needs for at least a week is a sensible course of action. Logically and intelligently, a person will consider to try the following basic survival tips to be ready to face any natural or man-made calamity:

1. Preparing an emergency kit. The kit should keep you self sufficient for three days or longer if emergency personnel cannot reach you. A basic survival kit should include water, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, flashlight, radio, batteries, a cell phone and charger and local maps. It can also include important family papers, a blanket, a can opener, a dust mask, towelettes or hand soap, and a whistle. While not a food item, medical subscriptions can also be included.

2. The immediate needs of you and your family are air to breathe, water to drink, a warm and secure place to stay, nutritious and easy-to-prepare food to eat, and the ability to stay in contact with others. Stocking up on face masks, storing at least one gallon of water per day per person for a week or more, having the materials and skills to repair a damaged roof, maintaining enough nonperishable canned and packaged food and the means to prepare it, and keeping your cell phone charged at all times can work wonders in making life bearable and safe until help arrives.

3. Have spare cash on hand, enough to operate for a week or more. ATM's will not work without electricity, leaving you without funds. Point-of-sale cash registers won’t work for the same reason.

4. Consider keeping your land-line telephone in case of an emergency, because cell towers are often swamped with traffic or may get damaged in a disaster.

5. One can prepare a basement in the home where necessary things, food items etc. can be stored for use in emergencies.

There are certainly occasions where it makes practical sense to make preparations for the future. However, it is our attitude towards the same, that it is important.

In the Old Testament we can see from the dream that Pharaoh had that the Almighty wanted Joseph to advise him to prepare for a forthcoming famine to keep the people from starvation (Genesis 41:15-41). In accepting Joseph’s Almighty-given advice, Pharaoh saved his people from starvation.

It is right and sensible to make preparations for the future, but we must be careful not to place extraordinary confidence in those preparations. Yahushua’s parable about the prosperous business man who wanted to build bigger barns for his crops is an example.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? {Luke 12:16-20}

The rich man was looking to his riches for his provision and security. There was nothing wrong, in principle, with his building bigger barns. Where his attitude was wrong, was by placing his confidence in himself, without acknowledging the Almighty in his plans. After all, it was to the Almighty he needed to be thankful for the increased crops he had, and it was His wisdom he would need for how he would spend his wealth. But he never consulted the Almighty, and his life was taken before he even had a chance to spend or use what he had hoarded.

We should not get absorbed in the thoughts of providing ourselves with food, shelter, goods etc. because Yahushua has assured us that our Heavenly Father knows about our needs.

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? {Matthew 6:31}

For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. {Matthew 6:32}

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. {1 Peter 5:7}

Most of the talk on preparedness these days focuses on food, water, emergency medical supplies, sleeping bags and similar items. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s limited to the scope of being ready for things that happen when we are alive. But this life is just the blink of an eye in the larger perspective of spirituality and the survival of the conscious soul. As journeys into the afterlife have revealed to us, there is an afterlife beyond this life, and our actions here on Earth are judged by the Creator.

We all focus on the survival of our physical bodies here on Earth, but relatively few people consider the survival of their eternal souls beyond this realm. It may appear strange because the world beyond this life is actually far more REAL (and eternal) than this life here on Earth (which is often described as a 'training ground' or a 'simulation' or a 'dream'). Whether we live or die through the next Earthly preparedness crisis, the truth is that we all pass on to the afterlife sooner or later.

According to nearly every true religion as well as many well-documented afterlife experiences, upon our passing beyond this physical world, we will be judged according to the decisions and actions we pursued during our lifetime. This judgment will reflect the degree to which we have lived our lives with love, humility, compassion and other fundamental traits of virtue. Those who have lived lives primarily dominated by the pursuit of greed, power and deception will be judged in a negative light (or darkness, as it were).

Belief in the afterlife, is not a requirement to be judged in the afterlife. Regardless of a person’s beliefs during the Earthly lifetime, they are nonetheless judged according to their free will actions. Denying the existence of the Creator, in other words, does not in any way provide a 'free pass' for one's behavior on Earth.