Preparing for Life’s Storms. We prepare for physical storms, do we prepare spiritually?

Preparing for Life’s Storms | Lessons from the Heart

Hay in huge round bales wrapped with a green net, stand like a windbreak against the fence to the north of our house. In the pastures, hay fills each of three blue metal feed rings. Cows crowd around them in the winter cold to eat their share. In the evenings we feed them alfalfa for some extra nutrition to get them through the night. We buy alfalfa cubes to soften for the fast-growing calves. To run out would be to leave bawling cows waiting for their winter sustenance. But there is plenty standing waiting.

What about my soul in the cold days of this life? Have I fed it God’s Word in preparing for life’s storms, frosty icy days and nights? I know these wintry days can sneak up and with a wind from the north strike me when I don’t expect them.

I relish the lazy hot days of summer. Cheerful and unaware, I trundle through the orange pumpkin scented days of autumn. The first days of winter seem clear and bright, maybe with some gentle snow and chilling rain that makes me happy to fire up the woodstove and put on a kettle of soup.

Then one night, temperatures turn harsh and a blizzard strikes, or an ice storm shuts us in, or a polar snap freezes the water in the cow’s troughs. The wind sweeps in from the northwest and we retreat! We’d better be prepared with supplies, candles, heat, food, and water to tide us over.

The unprepared, like the women with oil lamps waiting idly for a wedding who found themselves out of oil, out of light, and out of the wedding party, rush to a store to buy bread and milk.

Storms, attacks, trials, troubles––we’ll have plenty in this world. The Bible says it is as sure a thing as the sparks that fly upward from a fire.  These storms may be sickness, disease, a sudden death in the family, house fire, an accident, job loss, heartbreak, a church breakup, a marriage breakdown, even a literal storm like a hurricane, or here in Oklahoma, a tornado. Am I ready? Have I been faithful in preparing for life’s storms?

Is my spiritual pantry empty or full? Is my stockpile of supplies low and dwindling? Is my cache of necessities to maintain my hope, my well-being, and my life empty? I am the one who must be responsible for filling the shelves, for preparing a heart that will stay strong, for putting in a provision of what I will need when crisis comes, when storms of life roar into my neck of the woods.

Will I be ready? Will I know where my strength lies? Will I have prayers, songs, and the scriptures there when I need them? Will I find courage, faith, and strength? I hope so.

I hear a cold wind blowing. The sun is shining, yet I’d best get busy preparing for life’s storms.  I best go check my pantry

Elece Hollis is a mother to seven and grandmother to 24. She lives in Oklahoma where she is retired from homeschooling and writes full time. Elece likes to paint, write poetry, and is a photographer who enjoys shooting nature, especially flowers. She helps her husband on their 80-acre farm where they grow pecans and raise beef cattle. Elece blogs over at EleceHollis.com. Elece is the author of several books including Life with Mama, What’s Good About Home and her newest book being Prayers for Teachers,  Life with Mama, What’s Good About Home