Preparing for Storms – Part 1

Personal Preparedness

Storms in life come in all kinds of ways. They can come personally, or as we saw, in a fire ravaging a whole Hawaiian town – or in the form of a tornado, a flood, or a war. But personal storms can come from a job loss, an illness, a divorce, or a death of a loved one. These tempests, such as the Lahaina fire, often come unexpectedly and generally catch us unaware. What can we do to prepare for the storms of life? We’ll discuss that in this blog post and more to come.

In Matthew 7:24–27, Jesus talks about being personally prepared. The passage reads,

“‘Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.’”

The first step in our preparation is accepting Christ and his teachings. They are found in the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible. It’s incredible to think that God the Father, as John 3:16 relays, “…loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” According to how the church I am a member of does it, all we have to do is say a series of ‘yesses.’

Yes, I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Yes, I believe he came to this earth in a human body and died for my sins and sickness. Yes, I believe he rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven. Yes, I believe he will return at the end of the age. Yes, I believe when he said, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And yes, I accept him into my heart.”

If you have not answered this series of yesses before, please consider doing it. Let me know if you do. Leave a comment.

Next Time: Preparing for Storms—Part 2