Weather forecasts are constant, it seems to me. I turn on the news, it includes a weather forecast for the day and usually the week. Often, the news even leads with the weather, especially if rain, snow or a storm of some kind is expected. I turn on my car radio and again I hear the current weather prediction along with speculation about temperatures and other weather conditions expected in the days ahead. Everyone seems pretty concerned with weather in general and with weather specifically, when it includes the possibility of tornados, hurricanes, extreme heat or cold, or other severe weather events.

I guess we want to know the most recent weather prediction so that we can prepare in advance for what is to come. If I know it’s going to rain, I take my umbrella with me even though at the moment, the sun is shining brightly. I may look foolish for the moment, walking down the sunny street with my umbrella, but later I will be vindicated when it’s pouring rain and I have my umbrella with me. I then have the satisfaction of knowing I prepared well for the coming storm.

However, that is not always the case. More often, as it happens, I have left my umbrella in my car, so it is not with me when I need it most. I am caught off guard and unprepared for the current rainstorm. Such is life. Life’s storms usually take me by surprise, catching me woefully unprepared to weather them. (pun intended) And sometimes the storms I do prepare for, never come. Ever have that happen? The weather people talk incessantly about the coming snowstorm and how much snow there will be. People, including myself, flood the grocery stores, leaving shelves virtually empty as we stock up for the impending snowfall, which will prevent us from being able to leave our homes and obtain food.

So I prepare and I anxiously await the coming storm, along with everyone else. I anticipate schools being closed and look forward to how I will spend the time. But then, the promised snow does not materialize or it is much less than predicted, causing no disruption to my daily routine, nor to anyone else’s. All that time I spent worrying about the coming snow and how I would get my driveway clear and how I would get around – it was for naught. The cause of my fear and anxiety never became reality.

Still, I feel like there are potential storms brewing all around me every day. There are constant rumors of storms. The headlines and the news are full of warnings and dire predictions which would turn even the most ardent optimist into a despairing, fear filled pessimist, given enough time. The assaults on my psyche are relentless. From climate change to war to disease to high prices to shortages – there is no end to the predictions of possible coming storms. And then, of course, there are the “end times” predictions which have been around for years and are still present in abundance today.

So do I spend my time preparing for the storm? And if so, which storm? Can I prepare for all the different types of storms simultaneously? Or should I just be preparing for “the end times” storm? If I am busy preparing for storms that may or may not come, when do I actually live this life I have been given? As I ponder these questions, I am reminded of two stories. One about a field mouse named Frederick, the other a story Jesus told about “a certain rich man” whose land produced a good crop.

As the second story goes, this man had so much abundance that he had no place to store all his crops. Our story continues –

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:18-21)

This rich man thought he was prepared. Well, he was prepared to face a famine, he was prepared for earthly life but he wasn’t at all prepared for heaven. He prepared for one type of storm, but another storm (death) came for him. Jesus sums it up this way –

“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Frederick’s story is quite different. He and four other field mice were preparing for the cold winter that was coming. Frederick’s four friends worked tirelessly storing up nuts and grains and other food supplies and straw for warmth when the weather would turn cold. Frederick, however, didn’t appear to be doing much of anything. As they were busy laying up supplies for the winter, Frederick’s four friends questioned him about what he was doing while they worked so hard.

Frederick assured his friends that he, too, was working hard, laying up a store of supplies for the winter months to come. Winter came and eventually, the nuts and grains and straw and such were all used up. It was then that Frederick shared with his friends what he had stored up for just such a time as this. He had stored up the summer sun’s rays complete with their golden beauty and their warmth. He had stored up the vibrant colors of summer which he now recalled in detail for his friends, so that they also could see the colors in their minds, brightening for them an otherwise gray winter day. And Frederick had stored up words – words which he now used to tell stories and to entertain his friends, taking their minds off of winter’s cold dreariness and making the time pass more quickly and more pleasantly.

What Frederick had stored up, did not run out – no one could take it from him, but he could share it freely with his friends. Reminds me of Jesus’s admonition to His disciples in Matthew –

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

So maybe the question is not which storm do I prepare for, but how do I prepare for all the storms that inevitably come in and out of my life? Do I collect more stuff and build bigger barns, or do I find a way to lay up treasure that can’t be taken from me? Peter mentioned this very thing when he said –

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

That’s the kind of inheritance I want – one “that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for me.” How do I prepare for the coming storm? What kinds of things can I be doing now? Matthew 6 gives me some good ideas, saying –

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. . . . But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. . . . But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:3-18)

Giving, praying, fasting – these are things to be doing in preparation for the coming storm. What else?

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Ok, acting justly, loving mercy, walking humbly, following God – what else? Like Frederick, I want to have plenty stored up in preparation for the coming storm. And the storm is coming, make no mistake. Jesus told His disciples this –

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5)

Winter came for the field mice, death came for “a certain rich man” and persecution is coming for believers. (it has already come for believers in many parts of the world today) The time to prepare for the coming storm is now. To that end we are advised –

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

I find more advice about preparing for the coming storm in Ephesians, which gives me these clear instructions –

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. . . . put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:11-18)

“The day of evil” referenced above – that’s definitely a category five storm that I need to be getting prepared for now! Fortunately, God Himself provides me with the armor I need to weather the coming storm. And He not only supplies what I need to face the storm, God also promises to be with me in each and every storm that comes into my life, threatening to destroy me.

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Like Frederick, the field mouse, in preparation for the coming storm, I want to store up things that will not perish or run out, things that no one can take from me – but things that I can share with others. To that end, I will do what the psalmist did –

“I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

Having God’s living Word stored up in me, means I have the sword of His Spirit protecting me as I fight life’s daily battles. God’s Word protects me and guides me through life’s storms. So I will continue to prepare for the coming storm, taking Paul’s advice to the Philippians –

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

the storm is coming – I will prepare. I will –

“Set my mind on things above, not on earthly things.” Because “I have been raised with Christ, I will set my heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1-2)

sincerely, Grace Day