Doomsday… That was something that was talked about a great deal in my home when I was a child. My grandmother having grown up Mormon was notorious for having multiples of everything. From canned goods and frozen pot pies to hand soap and tooth brushes. There was no limit to the things she had on hand at any given time. My mom and step-father had a bit of a different approach, since they didn’t have the means to stock pile supplies, they were always telling me when the end came “we were going to run to the mountains!” (and once we did! But ended up deciding it was safe to go back home). I never understood it, because we had no place to go once we got there, no means or skills of survival just us, alone in the mountains huddled under a tree, the thought always frightened me a great deal.
Since 2020 I’ve met many more people with that same mindset. Stock piling supplies in all the closets of their homes, sometimes spilling into their garages, crawl spaces and storage sheds. With “bugout” bags within arm’s reach, should they need to leave in a hurry. According to Google, in the last 12 months there has been 29% of the population dropping $11 billion on emergency preparedness supplies. I will admit during 2020, I did some panic shopping myself and bought so much canned soup I had no room for it in my cupboards. I had to stack it on the floor of my laundry room, where it stayed for many months.
I realized I wasn’t a very good doomsday prepper, when I got sick of looking at the soup hoard and decided I wasn’t going to buy any more food until I ate a bunch of that soup. Now, I see the value of being prepared; I see the benefit of not having to be so reliant on the grocery store to meet all your needs. But I also notice the hyper focus of self-reliance and forgetting who really provides our needs and what it is that we should really be planning for.
As I was reading the Bible this week, my mind was once again reminded of the doomsday prepper mentality that I have witnessed from friends and family over the years to varying degrees. The idea of how they see the last day events and what will be needed to survive them might be correct on some levels but are they getting the right things in order as well? When the LORD was teaching Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11, 12 what the coming of the Messiah would be like. Not the mighty conquer to smash every oppressive thing to pieces but instead as a “still small voice”. Made me realize that same mistake could be made from those who are trusting in the things they think are going to get them through the end of time, and not on the One who is longing to do just that for them. They are not “storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Again, according to Google, the Doomsday prepper ideology is “the idea of survivalism, the glorification of self-sufficiency…” “Also known to seek out other survivalist to network with, seeking solace, safety and strength in numbers”. Lamentations 4:17 says…“Still our eyes failed us, watching vainly for our help; in our watching we watched for a nation that could not save us.” Psalm 9:20…“Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men.” Psalm 39:5 (the last half…) “….Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.”
No matter how good of a prepper, storing up all the necessities, planning every detail of your escape, or event thought to take place. Will all be in vain if you’ve not got the right foundation. Because after all…. “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe” Proverbs 29:25