Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
With all the anger, fear, and violence around us, is it even possible to love in times like these?
With every new day there seems to be more pain, suffering, and dissension amongst peoples. Innocent lives are taken by those who are driven by their own anger, hatred, intolerance, or extremist views. How can we love in times when people are so consumed with themselves that they easily discard others – even family – when the relationship becomes an inconvenient burden?
We have to find ways to build relationships regardless of the lies that are hardening hearts and feeding self-preservationists. We must never allow our efforts in preparedness to drive us to an isolated and ultra-protected lifestyle – dependent only on ourselves. Being self-reliant in our lifestyle does not mean we must be self-focused to the exclusion of all others around us.
The truth is, if we are to find redemption in these difficult and uncertain times we MUST find love – and find the courage to share it. I see the necessity to love – as part of the Preparation Call. If we continue to harden our hearts toward others and deteriorate in our ability to love without conditions, I believe our lives will deteriorate into further bondage. We are creatures created for relationships and to nourish those relationships we must have some reasonable ability to love. Isolating ourselves will ultimately destroy us.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)
“Preparation Call, and the need to share love” is not a suggestion that we should simply ignore the importance of preparedness and self-reliance. By no means can – or should we – ignore the obvious responsibility to prepare our families for the things ahead. The Bible clearly shows the importance of being prepared and understanding our responsibility of serving and loving others. Preparedness is journey of Faith – and not a path that we walk in fear.
If you really listen carefully, you know that there is and abundance of fear and concern all over the world. It seems that families (all over the globe) are pushing their preparedness planning because they see the uncertainties. With bleak economic times, unemployment, natural disasters, rumors of wars, and distrust in politicians and government, people are very concerned about what lies ahead. In every economic and social standing, families are beginning to prepare in anticipation of major disruptions in their “normal” life routines.
Unfortunately, what I am hearing is that many people are rushing their preparedness as a reaction to fear and, in some cases, conspiracy mongering. In fact, many families are pushing forward with their preparation efforts because they are now hyper-sensitive to anything that sounds like doomsday news or end-of-the-world sensationalizing.
It seems with every news report that is released, more-and-more people are beginning to join the self-reliance and preparedness movement because they already sense that something is coming that will change life (as we know it) forever. Certainly, in many ways that is a good thing. I firmly believe we should all be getting prepared and more self-reliant, but I still have concerns about the path of fear that many families are jumping-on as they begin their preparedness.
Now more than ever, I see it is vital to prepare and to do so with courage and hope. Contrary to what many critics suggest, Preparedness is not a pessimistic lack of hope for the future, but on the contrary, is very much an optimistic and prudent approach in protecting our families for what God has in store for us ahead.
