Does God help those who help themselves, or will He toss into the fire all those worried about stockpiling earthly goods?
You’ll find Christians who say both, some quite vehemently. But where is the truth? Is there such a thing as Christian preparedness, or should we all put our trust in the Lord that He will help us in our time of need? (photo source)
I remember a story a priest told once in a homily, about a man whose house was flooding. He was on the roof and praying for deliverance when a boat went by and invited him to come along. “Oh, no thanks, I’m waiting for God to save me!” he called.
He answered the same when the Coast Guard came to get him and when a military helicopter tried to rescue him.
After the water rose above his roof and he drowned, he asked God at the pearly gates why He didn’t answer the man’s fervent, faithful prayers.
God answered, “Who do you think sent the boat, the Coast Guard, and the helicopter???” He probably even rolled his Blessed eyes, right? 
It’s a great party joke, but it also makes a point: we do not live in a vacuum, and we are not spiritual bodies only. We have physical bodies, and therefore God works through and speaks to us through the physical world. I do believe it’s very possible that He would smile upon efforts to take care of our physical bodies (and others) through the act of “being prepared.”
But of course, there is a catch.
As with most good things, we can have too much of a good thing. If we do, we can enter into preparedness sin.
A reader asked a thought-provoking question back when this preparedness series began, about God’s call to or away from the act of preparing. (Read her excellent and in-depth question here.) My answer, in part, was as follows:
In my opinion, we can have a balance between the two extremes – I don’t like the idea of spending hours each month making sure I have all the necessary everything for a major disaster to keep my family alive for a year. I do, however, think it’s prudent and wise in many ways, and I pray that the Lord agrees, to stock up on things that we use, have more than 3 days worth of food in the house – because we can! – and maybe have some water set aside.
As a Christian, it is definitely an interesting question: Jesus talked A LOT more about NOT storing material things and also about “being prepared” in our souls for the end. I’m sure, like many things in this world, preparedness can become an idol. It’s a wise reminder for all of us to make sure that we (1) don’t let it do so and (2) do not live in a spirit of fear, regardless of our level of preparedness.
KS readers also had quite a conversation about the Biblical basis of preparedness (or NOT) in the reader comments starting here.
Scripture Verses About Preparedness
- Noah prepares for flood: Genesis 6-7
- Joseph stores grain to save Egypt: Exodus 37, 38-45:1-8
- Jesus’s parable of the 10 well-prepared virgins: Matthew 25:1-13
- The prepared woman in Proverbs 31 (Amy details the connections between Proverbs 31 and preparedness very well)
- Proverbs 6:6-8, Proverbs 21:20
Does the Bible also say that we should simply trust in the Lord for our daily bread and never stockpile?
‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing!
26 Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are?
27 Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life?
28 And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin;
29 yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these.
30 Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?
31 So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?”
32 It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.
33 Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.
34 So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’
The spirit of Christian preparedness, then, cannot be one of fear for our earthly lives, but one of taking care of our bodies so that we can serve others as best we can. If we are weak, starving or ill during a disaster, who will serve the corporal, and much more importantly, the spiritual needs of the community?
Others Speak Out
Amy of Homestead Revival has been doing an amazing preparedness challenge the last few months at her blog. She addressed her call from God to begin prepping in a really lovely post: The Spiritual Aspect of Prepping Biblically. I strongly encourage you to visit that page and browse her prepping basics posts as well.
She also recently guest posted on Should a Christian Practice Food Storage?
I have been impressed with the blog Preparedness Pro lately, and this post is no exception: Charitable Preparedness is a very honest and real challenge to all of us to care for not only our own families, but our fellows in community.
If you prefer listening, you want to bookmark the Christian Homekeeper podcast, Sylvia’s site with weekly radio show, Thursdays at 7 p.m. CST focusing on homemaking skills. She is talking extensively in the coming months about the importance of including wholesome, natural, locally grown, organic foods in our every day lifestyles as well as our preparedness plans.
And a lovely reader story:
This is perhaps not the most reliable emergency-preparedness option, but especially for those of us who don’t own a small farm:), perhaps we should consider the value of community? I am reminded of a huge snowstorm years ago which shut down our whole city for at least three days. It was an early-season storm, and breaking branches knocked out transformers everywhere…plus the three feet of snow made roads impassable for almost everyone…
While many of us had camp stoves, one of our neighbors invited us all up for meals every day. We cooked oatmeal and other yummy things on our campstoves for the 5-6 families who came. It’s one of my favorite memories!
From Mrs. Brown, a sweet lady and friend-of-a-friend who talked with me a bit about her three decade pursuit of proper, healthy, manageable preparedness:
I am NOT a professional storage expert…just a mom.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many as you probably know, are trying to be wise stewards by being prepared to care for themselves, their families, and their community.
My decision to store and develop some needed skills came after I became a mother. I was reading about WWII and the holocaust and was deeply moved by accounts of people who survived that time and read of their inability to feed their families. At that time fats and oils were one of the highest price commodities on the black market. I realized then, that I had NO idea what was realistic when it came to storing supplies that could make a difference in the survival of my family.
On Christian Preparedness
Gratefully I can share this wealth of information with you, from Dianna of the Healthy Living Market in Mora, MN, who presented at her church:
Other proactive steps we can take towards “preparedness:”
1. Declutter your home. Extra supplies require space. Remove from your home what you don’t love or use. Find “homes” for everything that remains in your home.
2. Simplify cleaning and laundry supplies to be “earth friendly”, which are often concentrated, thereby taking less space, and non-contaminating to the earth, which is God’s gift to us.
3. Begin recycling: Actively be a good steward of the things you buy and use. Buy second-hand; buy recyclable, reducing and/or eliminating the use of “stuff” made from non-renewal resources.
4. Incorporate whole foods into your diet – get used to healthier eating which is much more economical to store than prepared foods.
5. Build a networking system: Be in “community” (relationship) now. We can’t go it alone.
6. Pursue emotional and spiritual health – God has a job for us to do!
7. Walk in peace: Let the peace of God rule your heart and mind (Colossians 3:15) and fear not!
Final Thought:
Disaster preparedness is not about “hoarding,” which brings the connotation of selfishly taking care of only yourself. It is about planning ahead and taking responsibility for yourself and your family, living as a responsible Christian, with the purpose of bringing honor to the name of Christ.
I know there are more than two sides to this story. As usual, I’m squarely in the middle, believing that we can be prepared as part of our Christian duty here on earth, but also that we don’t need to devote our lives to the practice.
Soul first, Body second. Just like with eating real food.
What do you think? Is there a Christian call to be prepared for physical needs, or only spiritual?
See my full disclosure statement here.
Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. 
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.
Pam says
We keep an emergency preparedness kit that includes 3-4 days worth of water for each person, canned/packaged foods, basic toiletries, flashlights, Sterno, crack powered radio, etc. We live in the Midwest (AKA tornado zone) and not too far from a major fault line (earthquake risk). I am not paranoid, just prepared. I am an RN and am “on call” for disaster duty at my hospital at all times. Having an emergency kit for my family gives me peace of mind that my family’s needs are met so that I can go help others who have much bigger needs.
Brandis via Facebook says
I had this conversation with a friend just last week. I think it depends on the heart of the person. I don’t prepare out of fear, I do it for a number of other reasons- because it makes life easier in a lot of ways (I almost never have to run to the store, so I can go when I want), it protects my children. If anything I worry not that I do it out of fear, but that I do it out of pride (the bad kind of pride). I’m that person among my friends and family who knows how to do stuff, who handles emergencies well, and who everyone would probably come to in an emergency situation. I want to be able to help people if that happens. If I’m not prepared and educated, I can’t do that.
Darlene via Facebook says
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I feel we have an obligation to protect our Children with which God has entrusted us.
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Rebecca via Facebook says
This is an excellent post. It’s something I have been pondering, too. It really is a heart issue. Our motivations, whether fear and greed or responsibility and generosity, are very important. Thanks for sharing.
Tammy says
Just found this post today. Needed it. Thank you for the balanced outlook. Really enjoyed reading the comments, as well. Very enriching post. Thanking God for you and those who shared here.
Rachel Wisdom says
Missed this! Well done Katie. And I’m really enjoying your comments Cirelo. 🙂
jessica says
God has said, “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” We should prepare ourselves for anything and everything we can. However, if we allow for these earthly possessions that we are storing up or preparing to save to become our idols, then we have a problem.
cirelo says
Where exactly did God say this?
albert says
if ye are prepared ye shall not fear? that’s not in my Bible (and mine is a Catholic Bible, with the awesome deuterocanonical books.)
is there something I’m missing? because my understanding is that private revelation is not binding on the faithful.
jessica says
This passage is not found in the Bible. It is from another book, Doctrine and Covenants, that I hold as scripture.
In the Bible, however, are many passages of scripture that talk about preparedness, as Katie mentioned above (Ten Virgins, Joseph, etc.). I believe a major theme of these scriptures is that we need not be fearful if we prepare ourselves. This preparation may be spiritual, mental, or temporal.
bobcat says
I think part of the religious aspect of it, too, is making sure that preparedness doesn’t become an “idol” in the biblical sense. The reason I don’t do it (at all!) is because I have a lot of other priorities right now, and being prepared would become a divisive factor between my husband and I. If it compromises your relationships, that is one warning sign that it could be an idol. If that makes any sense!
Katie says
Perfect sense!
charis says
i agree that it is somewhere in the middle. i can find myself swinging too far one way then suddenly over-correcting and swinging too far the other way. i think the thing to keep in mind for me is that we don’t see food multiply here not because God isn’t still a miracle worker, but simply we don’t need it. at the same time, everything He gave me He has a right to require of me – like the rich young ruler who was told to give it all to the poor. i want to feed my family in a disaster, but i know that anything i save up needs to be fair game to give to those who are in even more need than myself in the hour of disaster that they need it most.
i really like the quote cirelo put up that spoke of living in community that each did their part. we don’t do that much anymore and i like that we are getting back to it.
my recent post: from where you came
Amy @ Homestead Revival says
{smile}… Thank you, Katie!
I really liked your 7 proactive points! And I hope to catch that podcast – wish it was tonight. My family will be gone most of the evening and I could listen uninterrupted!
cirelo says
I like the reminder about community. I think that a lot of the problem I have is the “nuclear family” mentality that is completely ubiquitous in our culture which says every has to be totally self reliant. I was milking goats for this guy last summer in exchange for milk and we were talking about how the trade and barter system seems pretty common where we live and he told me about how he and his neighbors trade goods and services all the time. His neighbor helped him cut down a dead tree in exchange for goat cheese, for example. He thought in his little community that nobody cared whether the economy tanked or not, that they could all take care of each other without much money. Yes it does require that as an individual you have something to contribute, but it also means that the burden doesn’t fall on one person alone. You can lean on others. And we should, we evolved as gregarious communities, why should we be expected now to fend for ourselves?
Here is an excerpt of an article that touches on this idea of community sharing vs ind. preparedness.
“Anyone who has tried to incorporate all the principles of Nourishing Traditions into their diet will find that it is almost a full-time job. If you want to grind your own flour, bake your own bread, make your own yogurt, your own soaked-and-slow-dried nuts, your own relishes and chutneys, your own bone stock, your own sprouts, your own kombucha and ginger beer… this is more than the typical beleaguered house husband can handle. One wonders how they did it in the old days. The answer is, They didn’t! For one thing, before the age of the suburbs and the automobile, extended families lived together in the same house, and as often as not, next door from cousins and uncles. Four people cooking for 16 people is a lot easier than one person cooking for four. Moreover, communities were small and close-knit, and there was probably some degree of specialization and sharing among households.
I don’t want to make ginger beer for hundreds of people, most of them strangers, but I would be delighted to make it for a handful of other families whom I know well. Maybe one of them would make fresh-ground slow-rise sourdough bread for me (I never could get that to work). Maybe another would supply me with chutney and fish sauce. Maybe another makes soy sauce. Another brews beer; another wine from their own grapes. Maybe another neighbor has a 30-gallon cauldron for making beef stock; another, a 30-gallon pickling crock. For most traditional foods, the optimum level of production is more than for the nuclear family, but less than what is considered economically viable in today’s money economy.
…In many areas of life, social mechanisms of enforcing responsible behavior have atrophied as communities have disintegrated. These have been replaced by legal mechanisms. The old mechanisms of gossip, ostracism, reputation, etc. have lost their power. No matter how much your neighbors dislike you, your money is still good at Wal-Mart. In today’s anonymous society, we are little dependent on our communities, which have become mere collections of buildings. More and more, we are connected to our neighbors by proximity only. The increasing legalism and litigiousness of America is a symptom of unraveling communities, weakening connections. On a most basic level, we no longer make food for each other. All phases of food production, from the farm to the kitchen, are increasingly the province of strangers who are paid to do it. ”
from: Economics of Fermentation
By Charles Eisenstein. Originally appeared in Wise Traditions Magazine.
Amy says
Not to many years back, no one thought of storing food as a act against God. Most people put up enough to last them through the year. I think about Ma Ingalls in the Little House in the Woods. Her attic was filled with all kinds of wonderful things to feed them until they could grow it again. They only butchered pork once a year. Farmers in Kansas a few generations back (maybe even a few today) saved enough wheat for three years worth of planting. Our ancestors planned and prepared for the future because they were the only ones providing it. Today, we depend on others to supply us. During the Depression, 90% of people were farmers that provided their own food. Today, 90% of people live in the city. Most people do not provide for themselves.
We live on a small acreage. We grow enough veggies to feed us for a year, plus save the seed. We have our own chickens that provide meat and eggs. We have our own beef and milk cows. We live 13 miles to the closest “store” and only get groceries once a month through our coop, so having supplies on hand is important.
I have said this for several years; 1) be able to feed yourselves not just until your stores run out, but have a way to renew that food source (gardens & animals), 2) be able to keep yourselves watered, & 3) find a way to keep yourself warm in the winter. These things are not hording, but what people have done through out history.
Yes, the Bible says that God provides for the birds of the air. That does not mean that the birds sit there and God hand feeds them. The birds still have to go out and look for food, water, and nesting material. They still have to work at it.
Anything good can be an idol. We just have to work as if everything depends on us and pray as if everything depends on the Lord (St. Augustine?)
cirelo says
When I raised objection to the preparedness mentality I really was not talking at all about preserving the harvest. I’m totally down with food preservation, I think it’s healthy and economically responsible to become providers as opposed to being mainly consumers. I think the problem is when things cross over into this worried stockpiling for some “disaster.” There seems to be a lot of freaking out about not being able to accomplish it all or going into debt buying composting toilets and army supplies. Many people I know really really worry about this stuff. And I just feel that a little perspective is necessary, like is life really supposed to be about obsessing over things we can’t control? It’s like instead of acknowledging the reality which is WE AREN’T in control (the best laid plans of mice and men, right?) we have to frantically try to think of every circumstance where life could go wrong and try to prevent it. I’m going to keep putting up sauerkraut and providing as best I can for my family but the reality is, drought happens, frost happens, mold happens… you can’t worry about it all.
Anyway, a really awesome book on providing for yourself and your communities is “Radical Homemaker” by Shannon Hayes, I suggest everyone read it!
Deb says
I’ve been enjoying this series of posts, thanks! I’ve not had time to check out all your links yet, but hope to soon. I agree with you here, that you have to trust God, yet if you can you should try to be a little prepared. It’s not something I’d go into debt for, but we are trying to become more able to take care of ourselves. We live on a small farm, and have some Jersey cows, so we can make our own butter and cheese as well as raise some of our own meat when we end up with boy calves. We are hoping eventually to have enough cows to be able to share butter, milk and cream if necessary and have a couple calves to raise for meat every year (one for us and one for my parents). We also have chickens (as long as the coyotes don’t get them all like they did last year) so we have fresh eggs, and are trying to do a garden this year (which we aren’t good at and really HATE…but it helps save money on food) so I can can some food so we know more what is in it, and save money. We usually always have plenty of food around, so could survive for several weeks if not months (depending on the time of the year) should something happen. We do need to work on the water thing…but till we can afford it, I’m just trying to trust God that we won’t need it. He knows what we all need, and don’t need, and I trust that if we will need our own well or way to filter water, he will find a way for us to get it. 🙂
Thanks again for the info on this subject! :-))
Melissa says
For me, preparedness isn’t about stockpiling hordes of food and fuel and guarding it with guns, waiting for an SHTF scenario; its about peace of mind. Here are a couple of examples:
1. A few months ago, when my husband and I experienced a sudden and severe drop in our income, I didn’t have to worry about how I would put food on the table, because we already had a goodly amount stored up. We simply stopped buying food until we managed to get back on our feet, and ate from our stores instead. To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that I wasn’t going to the store, I’m not sure my husband would have even known ^_^
2. A friend of mine recently moved into a new apartment after a breakup, and after paying the deposit and getting his utilities turned on, he was running pretty low on money. We packed up a box for him and turned up at his new place with enough food to feed him for a month.
Situations like these are the reason I’m a prepper. If it allows me to help my fellow man, and gives me the peace of mind that lets me focus on God, instead of stressing out and worrying, then I can’t help but think that He approves.
Pam M says
I totally agree with you about the middle of the road. I know with myself, the more I read about and listen to stories of impending disaster and the necessity to have a year’s worth of supplies, it tends to want to get me to cross the line from faith and wisdom over into fear. God didn’t call us to live in fear. He always wants us to discern the times, though. So, for me I need to walk down the middle of the road – seeking the Lord’s wisdom about just how prepared we need to be and trusting that no matter what comes, we’re in the palm of his hand.