Preparation

Many of us are thawing out from a very cold, arctic stormy weekend. With today’s technologies we can get a pretty good warning about what to expect with each storm. Knowing a big storm is about to hit sends us into preparation mode. We flee to get groceries, gas, and anything we might need to survive the storm. Some go all out, and if you have ever suffered from power outages or damage from a storm, you take being prepared even more seriously because you understand the reality.

Do we give the same consideration to prepping our lives for our time here in this world? This is our storm. There are different levels of being prepared, but the willingness to live prepared is determined by the surrender of your heart.

If you have ever read Ephesians 6 then you are familiar with the Armor of God. In fact, Pastor Richard has done a whole podcast series, you can listen here, if you’d like to dive in deeper to this study. However, the concept of needing an armor suit while we wage war here in the flesh is a very real necessity. It’s our prep, and the more equipped we are, the better we will fare.

Ephesians 6 lists the following spiritual tools as necessities: truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. It’s important to look at this list as a whole, meaning it’s good to have pieces of it, but if you want to be truly equipped you must have all of it.

The Bible tells us the way to survive this storm of life is by taking all the pieces above and then using them to “stand firm” (13). You can only truly stand firm if you have the balance and power of it all. Verse 13 adds, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand…”. Picking and choosing which tools we want to use is not enough.

Ephesians 6:18 adds on, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” This is our communication with our Lord. It’s very important that we understand the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Here are a few verses that describe the Holy Spirit:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭26‬ ‭

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭

“…Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John‬ ‭14‬:‭17‬ ‭

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬ ‭

Friends, we are guaranteed to suffer and struggle in this storm of life. Christ did, and as our example we should expect the same. However, He hasn’t left us unprepared but, it is our responsibility to be fully prepared. We can take it all and stand on the fact that He is our helper, our Savior and our friend. Our hope is safe with Him. Being dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit is essential part of our preparedness. I think this verse in Jude gives us a great example of how we “stand firm”, ready for all the storms of life. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭21‬

-Rebecca