The interesting thing about dreams like that is that even though the situations are exaggerated or a little surreal, we know the feelings because we’ve had them in the real world as well. It’s not like I’ve never been caught short, unprepared, or unable to do what I wanted, simply because I failed to get ready either completely or on time. So, when I was asked to speak today on the topic of “Why does the Lord want us to be prepared?” the answer seemed obvious – because it is way more stressful not to be.
The Lord cares about how we feel. Men are, said the prophet, that they might have joy. The Lord tells us to be of good cheer; and we are advised that if we are prepared, we shall not fear.
Well, no duh, as the kids might say. Those reasons are completely sufficient, and completely obvious. They should, without question, motivate us to consider the things we should prepare for and to do it.
But is that all there is to the commandment? Is Heavenly Father just trying to help make life a little bit easier? Well, maybe; but the Lord tells us that nothing He commands is for purely material or temporal purposes. That is, it’s not all about this world. There’s always a deeper, spiritual meaning to what the Lord says. So, what else might the commandment to be prepared be about?
I have a few ideas.
First, physical preparation for unanticipated emergencies
helps us to be mentally ready so that we can be both
more calm and therefore more open to the Lord’s influence.
In other words, if we are prepared, we’ll be less likely to panic; if we are not panicked, we are more capable of being present and reasonable in our thinking; if we do that, we are also able to be more open to the discerning, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost. We’ll be better able to do what the Lord needs or wants, for us and for others, in the circumstances.
Consider the COVID-19 pandemic, which arrived just a few years after Canada and Ontario started to defund and disregard pandemic preparedness strategies that had been really trendy only a decade before. As a country, we were unprepared. There was panic and confusion. Our government took months to get its stride, and by then we were on a path that led to, well, truckers and others not only complaining but protesting, with roads blocked and lives damaged along the way. I’m sure that you, like me, know people whose jobs, businesses, homes and families have all been negatively affected by COVID-related protocols as well as the virus itself.
Now, let me be clear – I am not siding with the convoy or with the government. These are tough times, in which we are hearing conflicting voices yelling at each other over the news reels and the internet, and for us the task of knowing who and what is right, isn’t easy. But those who were better prepared, have been less likely to panic and more open to the influence of the Holy Ghost. For them, the tumult of loud, angry and fearful voices has not been the basis for their actions and decisions. Preparedness helps to give us peace of mind, spiritual security, and a healthy dose of genuine common sense.
Second, physical preparation helps us to be ready to help others.
The Church’s General Handbook explains that helping others in need is a part of the work of salvation and exaltation. Even self-reliance, it states, is not just about helping ourselves.
“Church members are … counseled [it says] to strengthen their own self-reliance …
[and] As members become more self-reliant, they are … better able to serve others.”
There is no criticism, of course, for anyone who can’t afford to be that well prepared. We’re judged by our actions, according to the intents of our hearts. As King Benjamin explains, all the Lord asks is that we have at least the desire to help others, if and when we can. But as the Handbook suggests, when we practice principles of preparedness and self-reliance, like thrift, wise planning, and valuing needs over wants and necessities over luxuries, we will inevitably end up with a little more than we need, and a little more that we can share.
Third, material preparedness is a metaphor that
trains and teaches us about spiritual preparedness.
I mentioned earlier that every commandment of the Lord is spiritual in nature. Does it make sense to believe that the commandment to prepare for physical emergencies is only for the purpose of helping us prepare for physical emergencies?
A common scriptural reference in any talk on preparedness is the parable of the 10 virgins. We all know the story: 5 virgins kept oil ready in their lamps; 5 did not. When the bridegroom came, 5 were prepared to fulfill their duties in the wedding party; 5 were not.
Now, this is a parable, it’s a metaphor. It’s not a story about having oil in lamps, but having faith, the Spirit and a testimony that guides your life, so that you are ready to experience the presence of God when that time comes to you, as it inevitably will. The focus of the parable is not really on the 5 well-prepared virgins, to commend them for doing well, but on the 5 unprepared virgins – the category most of us fit into most of the time – reminding them, or us as it were, that everyone is personally accountable for their own spiritual progress and preparation; that those are not qualities you can simply share or take from others. Every person has to acquire them for themselves. It is a parable that uses the idea of material preparedness to talk about spiritual accountability.
What we should each consider is that the time will come to each of us to meet our God, whether in this world or the next, and whether on good terms or poor. Spiritual preparedness is about being ready to meet Him on the best terms possible, like the 5 virgins who were each ready to join that wedding party with a brightly lit lamp.
As we prepare our food storage, or seventy-two hour packs, or savings, and whatever else we are able to do in anticipation of hard times, we can consider what they might represent about how we can nurture and prepare ourselves spiritually: reading scriptures to store up words of wisdom in our minds; attending church and participating in ministry, to develop a savings bank of spiritual experiences, so that we might recognize His voice when we hear Him, and be able to do His will when He asks.
When I was a missionary, we had a training meeting. Elder Hiroaki Yoza, an impressive young missionary I am still blessed to be connected with through Facebook, spoke about being an instrument in the Lord’s hands. He advised that to be useful to the Lord, you need to have the tools He will want to use. If you don’t study, learn, and live the gospel, then you can’t expect that He will suddenly invent in you the qualities, knowledge or character that you will need to be of real service to others.
This applies to all of us.
And it’s not just for major events. Just as emergency preparedness is as useful for getting through short-term challenges as for major calamities, spiritual preparedness is not just about meeting God in the end-of-life sense.
We meet God every day in every person and situation that we encounter.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called
to bear His name and His witness
in every one of those circumstances.
This is what the Apostle Peter is talking about when he says,
...be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.
Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee:
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Each of us is here because to some degree or another, we have experienced God’s grace. We have learned that we are loved by Him, and we are learning to love Him too. As we nurture that grace in ourselves, we become better able to share it, and all its gifts, with others. Whether our help is in the form of a testimony or healing, whether we move mountains or move furniture, if we make ourselves ready, giving as much attention to spiritual preparedness as we think we should to physical preparedness, we can be conduits of God’s love and grace in the lives of those who, like that lame man, might not even know yet that what they truly need comes from Him.
Finally, fourth, physical preparation for unanticipated emergencies
teaches us to love.
Now, you might think this is just another way of saying what I’ve already said, but I do mean something more than that; and, in fact, what I now refer to is something that happens mostly at that point when preparedness actually fails.
Let’s face it, we are not going to be ready for everything. We are not capable of it. We do what we can; but there will always be gaps. As we prepare for the ice storm, the floods will come; as we get ready for the pandemic, there will be an earthquake; as we build savings in anticipation of financial challenges, a loved one will become ill or die and the resources we will most need turn out to be emotional rather than economic.
So, what are we supposed to do? Do we scramble around worriedly trying to prepare for every possibility? How practical, and how happy, is that sort of life? Is that really what the Lord intends for us? I think we can get a better sense of what He really wants if we go back to the foundations of His commandment.
When speaking of the principle of preparedness we often quote the phrase from the Doctrine and Covenants (as I did earlier), “if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” What did the Lord really mean?
This statement is part of a revelation given to the Church through Joseph Smith in 1831. In it, the Lord speaks of wars in foreign countries, and begins to warn the Saints about the Civil War that will arise in America 30 years later. In response, the Lord says,
....treasure up wisdom in your bosoms,
lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you
by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears
with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth;
but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
...that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and
be gathered unto me a righteous people,
without spot and blameless…
I gave unto you the commandment
that ye should go to the Ohio;
and there I will give unto you my law; and
there you shall be endowed with power from on high...
We know more about the meaning of those words today than the saints did in 1831. And this tells us a great deal about the kind of preparedness that in fact matters most to the Lord.
But it is not only the context of that statement that teaches us what the Lord’s commandment is really about. I invite you to parse a little more carefully the words of the statement itself. The Lord says, if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. But what entirely eliminates fear? Knowing we can never be prepared for everything that might happen, and knowing that despite our best efforts, we might never prepare enough, how can preparation alone free us from fear?
The answer is that it all depends on what you are preparing.
I learned the principle in a unique experience on my mission. There was a day when all the missionaries near to the city of Sendai were called to report to a hospital to be tested to see if we would be compatible donors for a child in need of a bone marrow transplant. A bone marrow transplant! I am afraid of the simplest of needles. I turned my head away all three times getting my Pfizer shots. I use laughing gas both before and as well as for freezing at the dentist. A bone marrow transplant is much, much more invasive and painful.
As we rode our bikes down the evening streets heading to downtown Sendai, I wondered how I would be able to do this; how could I endure even the test that would find out if I was compatible; and if I was, what would I do then?
As I thought about these things, I prayed. I prayed for strength, willingness, compassion, and understanding. And as I prayed, I felt something incredible. I felt love infuse me, love for that child, so vulnerable and in need; but it wasn’t my love. I felt God’s love for that child, and in that instant, I literally felt all my fears fade away. I felt peace and confidence, and I knew I would be able to do and endure whatever was needed.
[Just to finish off that story, it turned out that by the time we reached the hospital, a suitable donor had already been found, and I did not have to follow through on my newfound courage and love.]
In First John, chapter four, verse 18, the apostle tells us:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear...
Perfect love is, of course, the Lord’s love. Ours will never be perfect without Him and His. Therefore, the prophet Mormon counselled,