Why Christians Must Embrace Preparedness and Self-Reliance

By Cade Shadowlight

"I hear too many Christians say, “I’ll just trust God.”  Trust God? He’s telling us what’s coming. He’s telling us very clearly. He’s commanding us to be prepared. So doing nothing is the opposite of trusting God." -- Joseph Farah

There are five reasons why I think it is absolutely critical for those of us who follow the Messiah to embrace self-reliance and preparedness. **Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes are from the New King James Version. 

1- To be obedient to God.  

Throughout the Bible, God tells us to prepare for the future. He warns of future hard times and even persecutions that His people (that's us) will have to go through. Yes, this means both spiritual AND physical preparedness. There are many, many verses from both the Old Testament and New Testament in which God makes it explicitly clear that we are to prepare both spiritually (get right in our relationship with Him) AND physically (food storage, self-defense, etc.). If we are to fully obey God, we must do both. Preparedness is not only prudent, but in fact is commanded by God. Some examples:

"A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; The simple pass on and are punished." -- Proverbs 27:12 

"The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down." --  Proverbs 21:20 (NIV)

"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." -- 1 Timothy 5:8 

"Then He [Jesus] said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." -- Luke 22:36 

"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." -- Hebrews 11:7 

"And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them." -- Genesis 6:21

A host of other verses could be quoted also, including Genesis 41:47-57 (food storage), Exodus 22:2 (self-defense), Psalm 144:1 (self-defense training!), Proverbs 6:6-11 (look to the ant's example: constantly preparing for the future), 1 Corinthians 16:13 (stay alert, be brave, be strong), 1 Thessalonians 5:6 (stay alert, situational awareness), and Matthew 25:1-13 (the wisdom of the five prepared virgins compared to the foolishness of the five ill-prepared virgins, both spiritual and physical preparedness).

2- A Biblical responsibility to take care of our family.

 

Throughout the bible, God commands us to take care of each other, and especially our own family. It is not the government's responsibility. It is not society's responsibility. It is our responsibility. We read in 1 Timothy 5:8: "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."  This is especially true for those of us men who call ourselves His followers, so man-up and don't be worse than an unbeliever. 

3- God repeatedly warns His people of hard times and persecution ahead.

 

Coptic Christians Beheaded in Libya.

A peculiar, and frankly un-biblical, modern theology has arisen in recent decades that falsely proclaims that Christians will be spared harsh times and future persecution. Popular pastors and "Christian" authors proclaim that we'll be raptured out before things get really bad. But that feel-good message isn't the message proclaimed in the Bible. Believers will face difficult and dangerous times, even persecutions. Just ask those Coptic Christians beheaded in Libya in 2015, the Christians being killed in the ongoing genocide in Nigeria (over 18,000 since 2023), or the multitude of other Christians who are persecuted, imprisoned and even killed every year around the world. Read Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3, and the entire book of Revelation, among many other warnings given by God. Or ignore what God says and follow those "feel-good" pastors instead. Your choice.

4 - Growing hostility towards traditional and biblical values.

 

The tide of popular opinion has turned against those of us who are traditional believers. We are increasingly being forced to choose between following God, or or following the world. Political correctness and wokeness is largely meant to silence traditional Biblical beliefs, values and viewpoints. This should come as no surprise to those of us who read the Bible, for Jesus Himself warns: "But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you... and put you in prison... You will be betrayed... they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me" (from Luke 21, please read the entire chapter yourself). It will only get worse during the End Times.   

 

5- Self-reliance and preparedness helps us live by God's ways. 

 

The more independent and self-reliant we are, the more we can escape the worldly system and live by God's ways instead.  The more we are able to survive on our own — as individuals, families, and communities — the less we will be tempted to compromise with the world. The more we need the world in order to survive, the more likely we will be to compromise our walk with God.  

This fact is is obvious to the worldly powers, which is why they have focused so much effort on attacking the concept of self-reliance, labeling it as too hard, unrealistic, unfair, and even selfish, among other things. They have even tried to label it "un-Christian" in an effort to deceive God's people. They want us as dependent on their worldly system as possible. Then they can control us.

 

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Two of my favorite and most often used Bibles: 

The NKJV, American Patriot's Bible, The Word of God and the Shaping of America - One of my favorites, the New King James Version is literal, accurate, and easy-to-read for most modern folks. The American Patriot's Bible "shows how the history of the United States connects the people and events of the Bible to our lives in a modern world. The story of the United States is wonderfully woven into the teachings of the Bible." Lot's of articles and study notes showing the importance of God and the Bible to our nation's founding and subsequent history. Available on Amazon. 

The Scriptures - This new English translation includes Genesis through Revelation, and restores the Name of our Creator to the text in each place it occurs. This new version in English is a literal translation by Institute for Scripture Research, overseen by Dr. Chris Koster. New in this 2009 edition: Improvements to the text - seeking a yet closer equivalent to the literal meaning of the original language. Quotations / Allusions from the Old Testament are in bold type in the New Testament, and are accompanied by the text references - aiding your understanding of the original contexts, and how they influence the writers drawing upon them.  Available on Amazon.