I’m not one for surprises and patience is unfortunately not my strong suite. I like to know all the details and inside story right now. It goes back to my youth; I discovered where my mom would hide the Christmas presents and when she would go to the store, I would open my presents to see what I was getting. There were times that my brother and I not only opened the presents, but would play with the toys and then wrap them back up before my mom got home. I look back on that now and feel really crumby about it and I’m sure I offended Santa. Nevertheless, it’s still hard for me to be patient and wait for the answers.
I don’t think I’m alone in wanting answers to my prayers right now. Surely Heavenly Father knows what I need so why can’t I receive the solution to my problems now? What’s the purpose of making me wait to get the answers I so desperately want and need? I wish I knew the answers to those questions but I have learned I need to exercise faith that if I’m doing all I can to solve a problem, if I continue to work and pray and try, eventually things will work out. They always do.
It may not be in the time frame I would have chosen or even in the manner I thought would have been best, but things will work out. For those who refuse to give up and are committed to continue to move forward in faith, in spite of not knowing all the answers, I’m convinced those answers will become clear sometime down the road.
I believe this quote from Steve Jobs really makes a lot of sense:
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” ~ Steve Jobs
This has been a real challenge for me as it relates to properly preparing for an uncertain future. Yes, I would love to know when things will get bad enough that we’ll need to rely on our food storage. Yes, I would love to know what the event or events will be that will trigger this need. And yes, I’d love to know how long we’ll need to be on our own. I would venture to guess everyone would want to know this info. Knowing these details could alleviate so much potential pain and suffering. It could also help us prepare to provide for those who can’t prepare for themselves.
Unfortunately, that’s not the way things work. There is no fortune teller who can spell out all the future details of our lives so we can be totally prepared and ready for every potential event we will encounter. Certainly if there were, there would be no need for faith in our lives, there would be no challenges we weren’t prepared for and there certainly would be no surprises that might catch us off guard. And as a result, there would be no personal growth that comes from moving forward with faith, not knowing the end of the story before it begins.
If your desire and goal is to provide for your family with food storage and all the non-food items that accompany being properly prepared, then move forward with faith believing things will work out. Even if you don’t know where to start, do something – anything, especially if you feel promptings you may not be able to explain.
You may not completely understand why you feel a prompting to purchase food storage, or that coil of rope, or extra bottles of hydrogen peroxide, or a case of matches. You may question yourself when you are led to purchase an axe, or a large tent, or extra warm clothes from the thrift store. You may wonder why you feel a need to buy extra work gloves, or large brimmed hats, or sewing kits. But if you do follow through and act on the promptings you receive, the time will come when you’ll be able to connect the dots and understand fully why you received those promptings.
Please don’t let the fact that you don’t have all the answers keep you from moving forward with your preps. Just because you may not be able to see in your mind why you would ever need emergency food storage, don’t let that keep you from moving forward. The dots will all eventually connect and our lives will be blessed if we choose to move forward with faith.
