When Is It Time To Prepare To Survive?

Way back in 2007, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said, “We don’t know when a pandemic will strike but we can be sure of two things:

Every thing we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist.

Everything we do after a pandemic will seem inadequate…”

This is true of almost all scenarios. Now, I’m not saying that this is going to be a survival situation but it sure has a lot of people worldwide sitting up and taking notice.  Going down to the store today I saw a lot of people stocking up on water and various goods.  All the N95 masks were sold out.  However, there was also a lot of folks just going about their business buying what they needed right here and right now.

One of the biggest problems that we face in modern society is that it has been a long time since we went through any real national or global crisis. I mean the kind of crisis that folks lived through back in the First and Second World Wars and the Great Depression.  As a result, we have become accustomed to “JIT” or Just-In-Time delivery services and stores that are continually stocked and re-stocked with food and all other necessary and unnecessary items.  We all have a great deal of Normalcy Bias to the effect that we can scarcely imagine a day when things aren’t plentiful and normal.

Then, we wake up one day to the news that a sickness is running rampant through other countries, quarantines are in effect and that we may face similar circumstances close to home.  So, like many others we run out to get last minute supplies only to find out that the store is only stocked for normal business, and many of the supplies that we might need are sold out.   We see the same kind of thing every winter before a snow storm, the milk, eggs and bread are all but sold out.  You would think that folks would maybe just keep a little extra on hand for winter time, but no, they have to run out right before the storm to get them.  A prudent person would have already purchased the items and be able to sit at home and watch the snow fall and maybe even enjoy it! It sure beats fighting crowds and slippery roads.

The time to prepare to survive is now. Not tomorrow or next week.  This is the philosophy that we teach at the WayPoint Survival School.  We teach our students skills and have them purchase their gear before they need it.  We need to have what it takes before the event occurs.

Nobody knows how far reaching this virus will be or what will be the secondary effects on our economy and our jobs.  We all hope that water, sanitation and electric will keep on being piped into and out of our homes and that the workers are not too sick to show up to work as it takes some time to train folks to do those very technical and skilled jobs.  We hope that the trucks keep running to keep our stores supplied.

One thing we know we must do is not panic.  The world isn’t ending tomorrow.  The sun will still shine.  Sick folks will recover and life will go on.  God is still good…all the time!

Spiritually speaking, both Noah and Joseph were told by God to prepare for coming events that would bring disruption and scarcity.  We can be sure that just like people laughed at someone preparing for a global virus six months ago, they laughed at Noah building a boat so big and possibly so far from enough water to float it!  They probably didn’t laugh at Joseph because he was the second most powerful man in Egypt.  But during the seven years of incredible plenty I’m sure there were times that people were scratching their heads over the need to store so much food when there was an abundance everywhere and had been that way for so long!

For the last forty plus years, I have heard preachers telling us that the return of Christ is near.  They read the verses and preached the sermons and gave the altar calls.  And, I am so thankful for the men and women of God who have faithfully kept the Word of God alive in our churches, in our culture and in our homes.  However, I wonder if they ever put it together that Jesus meant what He said in Matthew 24 :7 “… And there shall be famines and pestilences (diseases) and earthquakes in diverse places.”?  Did they ever think that it would mean that they would live through a time when they would have to make preparations to endure in their own homes?

Folks, we are living in Biblical times.  Diseases, earthquakes, wars and massive swarms of locusts are devouring food and bringing famine to our world this year! Prepare yourselves, prepare your homes but most of all prepare your hearts! Because after all is said and done and life returns to normal, we will still all die someday and face Christ at the Judgement.  Repent of your sins, get right with God and others and don’t delay. The time to prepare to survive eternity is upon your doorstep!

Thanks for reading!

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James B