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Are you “no earthly good”?

Tuesday, March 7, 2017 16:04
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(Before It's News)

I was reading a column on WND this morning entitled “Think a cell phone can save you? Think again” in which the author discusses amateur radio and the need for alternative communications under emergency conditions.

Among the spirited and intelligent comments posted after the article, someone rudely elbowed in and proclaimed, “Think a cell phone will save you? Think again only JESUS can save you from eternal Damnation.”

Um, yeah. We all know that. But the author wasn’t talking about eternal damnation, he was talking about amateur radios. Get a grip, fella.

See, this underscores one of my pet peeves when it comes to preparedness. There are those who, as the old saying goes, are so heavenly-minded they’re no earthly good.

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These are the types of people who claim they don’t need to be prepared because “God will provide.” Despite my total belief in God’s mercy and providence, I confess I have no patience with those who refuse to lift a finger toward their own physical safety or survival on the grounds that the Almighty will supply them with whatever they need. I’ve actually heard some people say with a straight face that they have no need to prepare because they’ll be raptured up before things get really hairy.

No offense, folks, but that’s about the stupidest contingency plan I’ve ever heard. In November 2015 when we had a massive region-wide power failure after a huge windstorm, nobody was raptured but a lot of people were very, very cold and miserable. It was a time we were profoundly grateful to be prepared.

Disruptive natural phenomena happen all the time. And it’s for these types of events that everyone must prepare according to their means and abilities.

J.G. Holland said, “God gives every bird its food but does not throw it into the nest.” Right now, God has blessed us with an abundance of goods and services in this country, but He isn’t throwing free groceries into our cart. Nor do any of us expect (I hope) to open our kitchen cupboards in the morning and find them magically filled overnight by Divine providence. It’s up to us obtain those groceries, not God.

Or, as one reader put it, “I have told the ‘God will supply’ people not to show up on my doorstep when things get tough because ‘I’ am not their God.”

It’s essential to place one’s trust in God, but to assume He will behave in accordance with our interpretation of what we want Him to do is foolish beyond belief. If you fold your hands and refuse to help yourself because of your sincere belief that God will give you full pantries when times get tough, then that’s slothful. It smacks of arrogance. You’re expecting Him to do the work he commands you to do.

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I truly believe God expects us to prepare to meet the challenges inherent in life: natural disasters, terrorist attacks, economic downturns, and other natural or manmade calamities. In addition to our physical preparedness, we all need spiritual preparedness for comfort, focus, and protection.

But to do one without the other – to prepare our souls but not our earthly lives to meet physical challenges – is shortsighted and incomplete.

The Bible is absolutely chock-full of advice for a preparedness mindset, and it exhorts us not to be foolish, slothful, or ignorant. Everything from the stories of Noah or Joseph in Genesis, throughout Proverbs, up to and including Jesus’s Parable of the Ten Virgins, urges people to be vigilant and to keep their lamps lit.

And yet there is a certain subclass of people who won’t do this because, after all, God will provide. No one argues faith is an integral part of prepping; but to make it your sole and exclusive contingency plan is not only stupid, but highly unbiblical as well.

Just some thoughts on a snowy day as we split firewood for warmth, thank a neighbor for plowing our road and driveway, and wait for spring when we can become active in the garden.



Source: http://www.rural-revolution.com/2017/03/are-you-no-earthly-good.html

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