Serenity is not easy
When I broke off my relationship with Facebook, I told my ‘friends’ (not everyone you accept on FB is actually a friend – it is FB’s term) that we are living in the end of days. Neither candidate was going to save us from them (if you are looking for an actual savior, Yeshua [commonly known as Jesus] is available), but it is plain from 2020 that the Democratic candidate will make life as retched as possible as quick as possible – observing the dictatorial behavior of the Democratic Governors in NY, NJ, MI, IL, WA, OR, CA, and elsewhere, the next four years will be a nation-wide hell rather than isolated to smaller areas.
Don’t get me wrong . . . the same was going to happen under President Trump, but it would have taken longer to lose your savings, your livelihood, and your freedom.
This is the Serenity I accepted before the election in 2020.
After accepting this – what can I change and where do I get the wisdom to know what is changeable?
I have always fought with this because I am a doer – I can and want to DO things.
Having spent 20 years in the infantry, I learned that it didn’t matter ‘how’ you did things (within legal restrictions, of course) . . . you did what was necessary to go through, or over, or under, or around the obstacle to get to the objective.
The Army had a saying, “If it looks stupid, but it works . . . it’s not stupid”. I am a master of doing stupid things to get something to work right. The internet has scores of slideshows of other masters doing whatever they can to accomplish a task . . . the photos usually depict an abundant use of duct tape and an OSHA warning to, ‘don’t this this at home’.
This attitude is the opposite of “Let go and let God”.
I want Yahweh to fix things (as He is ever so smarter and resourceful than I am), but am I not supposed to do what I can first?
I’m told to, “pray about it . . . .”
Prayer is important and we are instructed to do it without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:17), but we are to act, also.
Noah was not saved by sitting on his couch, watching Netflix, eating pistachios, and praying for an ark – hoping Yahweh would make one for him (which, ironically, is part of the storyline of the dreadful 1999 TV miniseries about the Flood starring Jon Voight). Noah spent 120 years witnessing to people about the coming flood and building the ark.
[As a side note, have you ever noticed how exceeding bad movies about Noah and the Flood are? You have a kick-ass story about the end of the world and Hollywood acts like they have never read Genesis 6. The 2014 version with Russell Crowe depicts Noah as a homicidal, environmental wacko bent on ending the human race . . . including his family.]
Yahweh could have provided a much better ark (presumably quicker than 120 years . . . and under budget), but He did not. If Noah and his family were to be saved, they were going to have to do a lot of the work themselves.
Not only were they going to have to build it, but they were going to have to put up with the ridicule that comes from building a really, really, big boat that wasn’t going to be able to launch into the sea – unless the sea came to Noah (which, of course, it eventually did).
How many times was the ark vandalized by drunken people? It had to have been a very stressful century (plus) for Noah’s family.
Abram (later, Abraham) did not pray for Yahweh to remove the idols in his father’s house. He destroyed them himself (the narrative in the Book of Jasher, Chapters 11 and 12 is humorously entertaining). This action lands him and his brother in Nimrod’s court and they are sentenced to be thrown in the fiery furnace (not quite so humorously entertaining).
[When reading about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in chapter 3 of the Book of Daniel, they are to suffer the same punishment, but they reply,
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)
They were not just making empty boasts – they were confident that Yahweh ‘was able to deliver them’ from the fire because He had saved Abram from the same punishment – though not Abram’s brother, who was quickly consumed by the massive fire.]
Abram was not capable of escaping the judgment, but his prayers were answered by Yahweh and his clothes were not singed, nor even smelled of smoke when he walked out of the furnace. He ‘let go and let God.’
What is enough? I have never been ‘wise enough’ to know when I have done enough and to just let Yahweh handle the rest . . . and that can be stressful.
How much does one prepare for the coming economic collapse and reset? Food, water, fuel . . . how much for how long?
When Israel left Egypt, they did not carry forty years worth of food with them. Yahweh provided – but not from day 1.
There will be a new exodus, when Yeshua supernaturally transports us to a place of safety to save us from the wrath to come (it will have to be supernatural, because, unlike the Israelites, we are not all in the same place to start the journey), but we need to provide for the time prior to the exodus.
I know people who have a veritable fortress that they plan to defend to the last shell casing. That didn’t work out so well for the 80 men, women, and children who were known as the Branch Davidians in Waco, TX. They were no match for the tanks and armored-personnel carriers that were unleashed on them by the US Government.
Randy Weaver had a similar problem at Ruby Ridge, ID, when Federal Marshalls killed his son and his wife in a brutal and heavy-handed operation unleashed on the family of a man who missed a court date.
Richard Branson built himself a ‘bug-out’ bunker on his Caribbean island of Necker, which was utterly destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
What can I, or any other ‘normal’ person, do to protect against a tyrannical government or the ravages of extreme nature? There is never enough bullets or concrete to stop a determined adversary.
I’ve always tried to stockpile food and water for anticipated events (e.g., blizzards, tornados, etc.) when the supply chain will be disrupted for 2 – 3 weeks. I have no idea how to plan for a government determined to affect a long-term destruction of the supply chain through lock-downs and draconian, environmental regulations.
I wish there was a hard and fast rule that says you are to do “X” and pray for Yahweh to do “Y”, but I’m not finding it.
I will continue to do what I can while praying it is enough until Yahweh’s plans unfold. I will also continue to pray that I recognize His unfolding plan so I don’t stubbornly stick to mine.
P.S. When the collapse happens . . . I’ve stockpiled guns and ammo, also. All my family can hit what they are aiming at, so don’t show up at my door unannounced. Just like in Noah’s time, there is no room for those who do not plan.