Faith

I think it is important to have faith in God. But faith does not mean a simple sense that "everything will turn out alright." Faith means that one has to endure and persevere on the path God has set. That that path may not be an easy one is apparent, to a Christian like me, in the path that Christ had to walk. God undoubtedly loved his Son, but Christ's life was full of purpose, and what He had to endure was the most difficult path of all, the via crucis.

God loves us. But that does not mean there might not be crosses in our future. In all my preparations, I sense the hand of God; there is a purpose to all of it that I do not fully understand. It may be that the supplies I put in my basement are never used; it may be that I get hit by a truck tomorrow and all my preparations are meant for someone else. I know I need to prepare for a period of tribulation. I do not know the shape it will take, or if all of this is just a simple exercise by God to teach me the value of things.

I know I need a year of food in my basement, a good water supply, a hunting rifle, and some money put aside. I do not know why I need these things, but as I add to the inventory I feel better. It will either be revealed to me in time, or I will never know why. Maybe a friend or neighbor or relative who sees my well stocked domain will suddenly get the urge to prepare also; maybe I am simply here as an example. The message I hear consistently is "prepare as if you mean it, and pray that you never need it."

I think God's ways are so far above ours that it is pointless to speculate beyond a certain point.