I have worked with many hundreds of families over the last 35 years in an attempt to assist them with their food storage and preparedness needs. Very seldom have I come across families who didn’t feel preparedness was prudent or important. In most cases, for those who chose not to engage and start their preps, it was an issue of priorities.
Most everyone with give preparedness lip service and declare it really is a priority for them to be prepared, but… there always seems to be something else that ranks higher on their priority list.
Granted, spending one’s hard-earned money on food storage just doesn’t compare to the sex appeal of a new car or boat, an exotic vacation or new furniture and a 70” 4K flat screen TV. Intentions may be good but “life” just gets in the way.
It has been said that storing food for our families may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the Ark was for the people in the days of Noah.
If that’s the case, one simply has to ask a couple of questions. First – How many people who did not board the Ark survived? Second – How many people who waited to start building their own arks until it started to rain survived?
If the answer to both those questions is ZERO, it might be worth one’s time to re-evaluate the family’s priority list.
I came across an entertaining parable the other day entitled “The Book of Gomer”. It tells the story of a couple who lived at the time of Noah and how they reacted to his council to prepare.
The Book of Gomer
A Parable
Author Unknown
These are the generations of Gomer, son of Homer, son of Omer. And in the days of Gomer, Noah, the Prophet, went unto the people saying, “Prepare ye for the flood which is to come, yea, build yourselves a boat, that ye may not perish.”
Now, Gomer was a member of the Church, and well respected by his friends and neighbors. And Gomer’s wife said unto him, “Come, let us build unto ourselves a boat as the Prophet Noah hath commanded, that we may not perish in the flood.” But behold, Gomer saith unto his wife, “Worry not, dear wife, for if the flood comes the government will provide boats for us.”
And Gomer did not build a boat. And Gomer’s wife went unto Noah and she returned saying, “Behold, Honey, the Prophet saith unto us, “Build a boat, that we may preserve ourselves, for the government pays men not to grow trees, wherefore the government hath not the lumber to build for you a boat.”
And Gomer answered saying, “Fear not, oh wife, for am I not well respected of the Church? Wherefore, the Church will provide for us a boat, that we will perish not.”
And Gomer’s wife went again unto Noah, and she returned unto Gomer, saying, “Behold, mine husband, the Prophet saith that the Church hath not enough lumber to build a boat for everyone, wherefore, mine husband, build for us a boat that we might not perish in the flood.” And Gomer answered her saying, “Behold, if we build a boat, when the flood cometh, will not our neighbors overpower us and take from us our boat; wherefore, what doth it profit a man to build a boat?”
And Gomer’s wife went again unto Noah and she returned, saying, “Behold, the Prophet saith, build unto yourselves a boat, and have faith, for if ye do the Lord’s bidding, He will preserve your boat for you.” But Gomer answered his wife, saying, “Behold, with this inflation, the price of wood has gone sky high, and if we wait awhile, perhaps the price will go down again. And then I will build for us a boat.”
And Gomer’s wife went again unto Noah, and she returned saying, “Thus saith the Prophet, build for yourselves a boat RIGHT NOW, for the price of wood will not go down, but will continue to go up. Wherefore, oh husband, build for us a boat, that we may perish not.”
But Gomer answered his wife, saying, “Behold, for 120 years Noah hath told us to build a boat, to preserve us from the flood, but hath the flood come? Yea, I say, nay. Wherefore, perhaps the flood will not come for another hundred and twenty years.”
And Gomer’s wife went again unto Noah and returned saying, “The Prophet saith, he knows it has been 120 years, but nevertheless, the flood will come, wherefore, build unto yourselves a boat.”
And Gomer answered her saying, “Wherewith shall we get the money to build ourselves a boat, for are we not now making monthly payments on our new four-horse chariot? Wherefore, when our payments end, perhaps we shall build ourselves a boat.”
And Gomer’s wife went again unto Noah and returned saying, “Behold, the Prophet saith that we should cut down on our recreation, and our vacations, and even give each other lumber for Christmas, that we might thereby get enough lumber to build a boat.”
But Gomer saith unto her, “He asketh too much! Are we to cease enjoying life, just because we must build a boat?”
Wherefore, Gomer built not a boat. But behold, one day Gomer heard thunder in the sky, and he feared exceedingly and he ran, yea, even to the lumberyard to buy lumber. But behold, the lumber store was crowded with great multitudes, all seeking to buy lumber, and there was not enough lumber to be found for the multitudes.
And on the same day were all the fountains of the deep opened, and the windows of heaven were broken up, and the floods came – and behold, Gomer had no boat. And as the water rose above Gomer’s waist, his wife saith unto him,
“Behold, Honey, I told thee so!”
I know it’s easy to make light of the parable of Gomer and his family without really evaluating our own list of reasons why we have chosen to put off preparing. If we’re honest with ourselves and are willing to sit down with our families and re-evaluate our priority lists, it might be helpful to ask ourselves the follow question:
Is there anything you currently own, or could own, that you would not be willing to trade for food if it meant the survival of your family?
I would hope the answer to that question would be a resounding NO. In fact, I believe we would trade all the wealth in the world for food to keep our families alive. When it comes right down to it, there would be nothing more valuable than food if we were in a collapse scenario and everything fell apart.
So if you agree with this logic, would that warrant moving preparedness and food storage any higher on your preparedness list? It’s time to move from “good intentions” to taking action.
