And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of afood, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and bwhatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them—and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.
This morning I wrote in my scriptures next to this verse, “First prepare, then trust God.”
Aren’t those words to live by in everything in life. First because God is not just going to fix everything for us. It is expected that we will put forth some effort. That we will do some of the work. This is a partnership. Granted, our partner is awesome and amazing and can do all things. he is not a silent partner and so He expects us to do what we can and He will do what we can’t.
The Jaredites prepared all that they could. Then they climbed into the barges commending themselves to God. Trusting that He would keep them safe and trusting that if there was something unforeseen that they didn’t prepare for that He would help them work that out.
These times are hard. But we can prepare and then trust God. We can prepare by having some extra stuff in our house like food and toilet paper and other things that we use every day. We can have things on hand so that if the store shelves are empty we aren’t afraid because we have some extra stored away. In my house we have plenty of flour and yeast and oil and sugar. We have some pasta and at least 6 giant jars of peanut butter. We know that if things get rough we can at least have home made bread and peanut butter to eat until things improve. We also have plenty of toilet paper so no worries there.
I also prepare by staying close to the Lord. I read and study my scriptures so that I am reminded every day that the Lord is aware of me and my family. I am terrible at prayer but I know it is important so I try to work at it and I can feel the blessings that come from my efforts.
It is important to be both temporally and spiritually prepared.
And those things don’t stop. We continue to prepare and work to remain close to Jesus and at the same time we put our trust in Him to take up the slack, to do what we can’t and to comfort us in the midst of difficult times. Like now.
So for now, I have prepared myself and I have climbed aboard my vessel and I have commended myself unto the Lord my God.
I hope that you are working on these things too. Is there some way I can help you prepare yourself? Is there something I can do for you? Please tell me. We all get frightened and it does help to have someone to talk to about it. If that is you, send me a message and I will be a listening ear and a shoulder. If you aren’t sure how to go about preparing temporally, let me know and I will help you figure it out. I have been doing it for years and have an idea of how to go about it in a way that is affordable and gets you where you need to be.
I pray for peace for all of us and I pray that this virus will be gone soon.
This Friday, 20th of November, President Russell M Nelson will address us all at 11AM Mountain Time. Here is what he says:
My dear friends, the challenges that we face as fellow global citizens are immense, but our ability to feel hope and seek healing in Jesus Christ remains strong. I have felt impressed to share with you a message on November 20, 2020, from 11:00 to 11:15 a.m. MST. It will be broadcast here on my Facebook page, as well as on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints YouTube account in multiple languages.
I have set a reminder for myself to listen and I hope you will join me. Here is the link to his page. https://www.facebook.com/russell.m.nelson/posts/3480139345386810
My dear friends, the challenges that we face as fellow global citizens are immense, but our ability to feel hope and…
Posted by Russell M. Nelson on Friday, 13 November 2020
Always Choose Charity 