THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS (BIRTH PANGS)

[Dennis1209]

I want to discuss if it is prudent and wise for a Christian to prepare for our times.

Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

We live in unprecedented geopolitical times; many see the convergence of everything prophetic aligning. We see the beginning of sorrows.

Mark 13:8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

First, we are to have our spiritual house in order and expect the return of our Lord at any moment. Are we to sit on our hands and do nothing as we see hyperinflation, famine, and hardship coming? Or is it biblically wise and prudent to make some preparations for what we see on the horizon?

There is no need to discuss the shortcomings we have already seen and are still experiencing and why. My point is that everyone is screaming and predicting everything will get worse, much worse, as our Bible details.

Many major outlets are now limiting products and proposing harsher limits due to dwindling supply if they can get them at all. Many necessary products I purchased just months ago have doubled in price and are climbing daily if they are still available. Soon it will be; if you do not have it, you will not get it. If you do not have something, you cannot help and share it with anyone.

In this day and age, we pray and hope for the best but expect the worst if we are the terminal generation. I truly believe America and the world will never return to what was our formal normal for many biblical and secular reasons.

I want to ask, are you stocking up on anything in preparation? If so, what are your priorities and storage methods? And if not, why not?  

[Hopefully]

I haven’t been stocking up in preparation but maybe I should. I guess I’d start with water and rice. 

[tim_from_pa]

That was a question I asked myself.  I started some stocking of (non-refrigerated) food in the event of shortages during COVID only to find my wife opens a cabinet and we already have a lot of that stuff.  So the moral of the story is having a wife like mine. LOL.  But seriously, I'm not sure about the Great Tribulation because we are repeatedly told that the Lord is our hiding place.  Not trying to brush it off, but I often ask where we are to prepare?  If we have some wooded cave somewhere, then it could be destroyed by an earthquake.  If we store stuff in some other bunker, then a flood could ruin the matches.  If anyone knows you have stuff, they will even kill you to get it.  Hunger does odd things. That "emergency garden" will look awfully tasty to those caught in the middle of the shortages and those who would have otherwise never touched a tomato or pepper in their lives past their junk food will now kill you to eat that tomato. On a less dramatic level, the power could go out and some of the food you stored could be spoiled. You get my drift because no place will be safe, i.e. one prepared by man.

I would say storage is better to get one to the point of the end when things will progressively get worse first.  But at the time of the end it won't do much good.  That's where the Lord has to supernaturally intervene. Again, with the wife, we have enough to survive many weeks.  Past that it's too severe to plan as any man-made plan probably won't work.

[B-B]

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6

Edited June 3, 2022 by B-B

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Dennis

Florida living includes being prepared for power outages,no access to food & water,gasoline etc...Every Floridian should have fresh batteries,shortwave radio ,flashlights, candles, bottled water,canned foods(& can opener)and whatever else one needs to survive for at least a couple of weeks in the event of a hurricane leaving you stranded and without electric.That's about it for me,I could get by for about 2 weeks....

I live in a Condo, where am I supposed to store anything - turn my living room into a pantry?I have a small storage space in my bldg with a few cases of water, a few cases of toilet paper, masks, surgical gloves, sanitizers & cat litter  in it from the pandemic ordeal.... and I'm outta space! It gets mighty hot where the storage is( no A/C) so I couldn't even store canned goods out there

 So that's my status,https://worthychristianforums-h45go6maxh5rpepgu.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/emoticons/default_noidea.gifhttps://worthychristianforums-h45go6maxh5rpepgu.netdna-ssl.com/uploads/emoticons/default_wub.png

[Alive]

Its been far worse…even in the USA. The great depression, bread lines, the dust bowl days, etc.

Trust the Lord. He loves you.

[Ray12614]

In the USA, It just makes sense to stock up on canned goods for a couple weeks or months supply. Biden's administration is intent on disrupting our energy independence, and as such, everything else is affected, including farmers who make the decision to not plant this year due to rising fuel costs.

Years ago, my family had an full pantry that they would stock over the summer, and eat from during the winter. They would get produce from local farms, and raise some of their own in gardens.

It just makes sense to have plans B-C-D etc. in this day of wicked rulers who do not have the interest of their people in mind when they disrupt the supply chain for their own political interests.

 

[Starise]

I have always been the type to buy a few extra things when I buy food. We often use it up but some of it goes into a pantry.

This is sometimes accidental as I'll think I'm going to use it and I don't so it ends up being an 'extra' thing. I bought some Patriot food on a whim. It's basically freeze dried food. I tend to think they are a racket because once they get your email they bug you to death to buy more of their stuff. My wife thought me buying it was a little nuts. I'm not sure if I'll ever need it and it won't sustain us indefinitely. If there was a real food crisis I would probably go to the river with my fishing pole and my wife who doesn't care for fish would become a fish lover. I have a few chickens who are making plenty of eggs for us. I augment their feed with table scraps and old bread. Letting them free range would help.

Since I am a member of BJ's which is a grocery club that sells mostly in bulk, I will sometimes buy a whole box of canned goods like peas or string beans. Those prices are not really wonderful and I can often do much better at a scratch and dent. I live in a farming area where there are milk cows. Most of the larger milk farmers sell to large interests to make butter etc. There are a few around here selling milk by the gallon if you look for them. In the spring there are usually food stands at the end of Amish  farm driveways where you can buy cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and so forth. I think I could scrounge and hunt to keep us fed if necessary. The Lord will provide.

I have a generator I have used in the past to power my well pump if we lost power. We usually only lose power for longer periods if a severe storm went through and did damage to the transmission lines. I wouldn't run a generator non stop in a power loss, just isn't feasible. Thought about putting a few solar panels up to charge smart devices. I have propane stand alone heat if I need it so long as I can get propane. Worst case, I could yank out the gas fireplace and burn wood. One benefit to living in an Amish areas is there is a store right down the road that sells "off the grid" stuff. They mostly use rechargeable or gas lights. I piped propane gas to cook with a few years ago. It is not reliant on electricity. I even have a caldron somewhere so I could heat soup outside over a fire lol.

I have 22,000 gallons of water in my pool out back if I needed water. I would only need to make sure it was drinkable. 

If out of power for an extended time in the summer I would opt to sleep in the basement since it's cooler down there or outside. A lot of heat builds up in my upstairs without A/C.

I believe we can get too carried away with survival which can lead to unnecessary worry. 

[ladypeartree]

Even if I wanted to I couldnt afford to bulk buy or store much. When I was a single mum with 4 children I used to keep a few boxes in my bedroom,all year when things  that were "long life " were on buy one get one free or similar I would buy (if it was something that we used )   and put the " free " one into the boxes  them in December we could live from the boxed goods and the money I didnt have to spend on that was used to buy treats and presents .  Now the only spare stuff I stock are things like toilet rolls as y daughter who has 6 children is forever running out of that sort of stuff so shops at mume store 

[Selah7]

Hello, Dennis.  Yes, I believe we must prepare for the end times famine by storing our pantries with food and water. Above all, though, we must be aware that another type of famine has been predicted, and we must prepare for it by learning as much as we can from God's Word so that we’re not deceived.  This prophecy is found in the book of Amos.

…selah 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

- Amos 8:11-12 (KJV)