God Will Take Care of You CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
We sing a hymn titled, God Will Take Care of You. Will he take care of you when hard times come? There is the perennial question whether Christians should stock up for the future or not. The term for someone who does this is “prepper.” Should we be preppers?
In Ex 12:33-36 Israel left Egypt in haste. They had dough, kneading troughs and clothes. They borrowed jewels of silver and gold and raiment. But they surely didn’t have enough food for their entire journey. God gave them manna to sustain them [Ex 16:13-20]. The manna came each day. Leftovers bred worms and stank. There was equality among the Jews. When God sent quail, many of those who ate the quail died [Num 11:31-33; Ps 78:30-31]. While the jewels were for offerings to build the tabernacle, they ended up using some of the jewels for the golden calf [Ex 32:2-4]. They just needed the Lord and his provision [Deut 2:7; 8:4]. They didn’t even need the extra clothes they took with them when they left.
In Rev 12:6, 14 the Lord will feed Israel for 42 months during the Tribulation. God will feed them with manna like he fed them in the wilderness [Mic 7:14]. In other words, stocking up will do them no good. When it comes time for them to flee they will leave in such a hurry that they won’t have time to get anything from their houses [Matt 24:16-18].
In Lk 22:35-36 the disciples lacked nothing when the Lord sent them out without purse, scrip and shoes. Even later when he instructed them to add those few things to what they carried, they weren’t carrying a stockpile of stuff. The Lord took care of them.
In 1 Ki 17:10-16 the widow woman took care of Elijah with a cruse of oil and a barrel of meal that only had one days’ provision each day. They ate from this for a very long time. She didn’t have a stockpile from which to feed him. She didn’t need it.
Jesus, Moses, and Elijah fasted 40 days and 40 nights. John the Baptist lived on locusts and wild honey. Paul abounded and was abased but he was content. In every case, the men and women who drew close to the Lord were taken care of. It is for this reason that the widow could give all her living [Lk 21:1-4]. She knew the Lord would take care of her.
In Jas 5:1-3 preppers find that their riches will be corrupted, their garments will be moth eaten, and their gold and silver will be cankered. Prov 11:4 says that riches profit not in the day of wrath. In Prov 30:7-9 Agur only wanted enough food for his convenience. He knew that an abundance would cause him to deny the Lord.
God will take care of you. Prepping is not the answer.