Joseph Herrin (02-27-09)

With the multitude of witnesses being given of the disintegration of America as a nation, many Christians are waking up to the nearness of the very dark days which are at the door. A normal reaction to the dawning of this understanding is to want to know what things might be done to prepare for days of great disruption.

The days ahead for America will include a complete and devastating economic collapse. The dollar will be rendered worthless. Those people who have their life savings in dollar denominated assets will see them disappear suddenly, in a manner akin to the US Airways flight that disappeared from radar as it descended with Bank of America executives aboard to a splash landing in the Hudson River. Those on board escaped with only the clothes on their backs, being grateful to be alive. So too will the banking system of America crash in the near future, and with this event the entire infrastructure of the nation and the world will be experience severe disruptions.

A sister in Christ shared recently that the Lord had told her that even the electricity supply would become unreliable. At times it would be available, and other times it will be unavailable. I shared a similar revelation some months back as the Spirit of Christ brought me to understand the character of coming days.

Along with economic collapse there will be great interruptions to transportation. Stores will run out of food and supplies. Gas stations will run dry and find that re-supply is sporadic at best. Civil unrest will be a natural consequence, and multitudes will find it expedient to flee from the cities, many of which will be ablaze with fires and unruly gangs and rioters.

All of these things, and much more, has been prophesied for the days which are near at hand. How then should a Christian prepare for such days?

I have pondered some of the difficulties that will be part and parcel of those days. Food and shelter are critical needs, but the normal provision for these things will be altered drastically. Most houses in America are only comfortable to live in when there is a reliable supply of electricity. Here in Georgia where I live, the summertime heat and humidity would render most houses uninhabitable if electricity and air conditioning were unavailable.

The Lord has been preparing me for such a time. Last summer I lived in my small van/motorhome that I parked on the property of the Macon Rescue Mission. At times I was able to run a small fan to blow air across me as I slept, but I never used the air conditioner. Even with a small fan I would be awake until midnight or 1 to 2 A.M. waiting for the van to cool off enough to make sleep possible.

Most houses today are not designed to be lived in without electricity. The high ceilings and large screened windows, the open space beneath the floors that allowed air to circulate, and the vents and windows that could be opened and shut over doorways to aid circulation, are no longer built into homes. Homes are now tight, with little air circulation. They are made to be energy efficient, but are unsuitable for life without electricity.

With intermittent electricity there would also be the problem of loss of refrigeration and food spoilage. People no longer have root cellars, or coolers that utilize block ice as they once did. Many who have electric stoves would be unable to cook, and even water supply will be intermittent in coming days. It will become difficult to wash and dry clothes without electricity. Few people today have wash basins and wash boards, or outdoor clothes lines to dry their clothes.

One of the most pressing needs will be food and water. Many prophecies have been given about the stores being emptied of food in one hour. In this day there are few people who have any store of canned goods. The practice of canning food out of a garden has fallen by the wayside. Few people have a source of food other than the grocery store. The pressing need of food and water will foster much unrest, and violence will spill over in the towns and cities of America.

I have considered what it would take to make provision for all of these needs, as well as many others. People who wear contact lenses (like my daughter) would need to get glasses to insure against a lack of contact availability. People who rely upon prescription medications for their health would face their own set of problems.

A community of people could go back to living “off the grid” similar to what some of the Amish people have done for years. They could become self-reliant, producing much of their own food, making their own clothes, pumping their own water from a well. The transition from a wealthy, energy dependent society that utilizes the banking system for all things, to a third world nation that is contending with economic collapse, political and civil instability, terrorist threats, natural disasters, and health emergencies all at the same time will be an exceptionally arduous predicament that will not be solved quickly.

Yet, this is God’s intent. He has sent many prophets to the nation and the church over a long period of time. He has sent judgments, and warned the nation to repent time and again, but they did not want to repent. Even today as the financial systems are collapsing, the government and the people of the nation are unrepentant. They are giving themselves to ever greater abominations, and the judgment now will be exceedingly grievous and will not be remedied in the near future.

In a recent radio interview that I provided a link unto, one of the men speaking suggested that Christians do what they can to repair, but he added that the Lord had shown him that whatever Christians do, it will be woefully inadequate. I doubt there is one family out of a thousand among the Christians in America who have made any preparation for coming days. They have not stored up food or water. They have not prepared for power outages, for food preparation, growing their own food, raising chickens, washing clothes by hand, or any of a number of other things that will be needful in coming days.

The few who have made preparation have for the most part only done so in part, and only that which will carry them through a brief period of time. When they have hundreds of other hungry, needy people asking them to share with them, what they have will be depleted very quickly.

As I pondered these things this morning I began to pray and ask the Father what should be done. I asked Him if there were something He would have me to do in order to prepare for my little corner of the world. The same sister who said the Lord had spoken to her about the electricity becoming unreliable said the Lord told her to stock up on paper products; toilet paper, paper plates, paper towels, etc.. When the stores are suddenly emptied, and there are no trucks making deliveries, such things will be hard to come by. I would not personally care to do without toilet paper.

Considering all that would need to be provided in order to prepare for myself and a large number of Christians that I know to be in this area, I was soon daunted at the enormity of what would be required. Even should I convince all of the Christians I know to begin to make preparation, it will all inevitably prove to be very inadequate in a very short space of time. I prayed and asked the Lord if I should even speak anything to His people about making preparation. I asked Him to guide me and give me wisdom. As I listened for His voice I sensed the leading of the Spirit to pick up the devotional book Streams in the Desert, and read the entry for the day (February 26).

I have not been reading this book regularly, but I had it sitting nearby on a table. I picked it up and, upon opening, it turned directly to the day’s date. This was very unusual and the Lord used it to get my attention even more. I read carefully what was written for the day.

My grace is sufficient for you. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The other day I was riding home after a hard day’s work. I was very tired and deeply depressed, when quickly, and as suddenly as a lightning bolt, the verse came to me: “My grace is sufficient for you.” When I arrived home I looked it up in the Word, and it finally came to me this way: “My grace is sufficient for you.” My response was to say, “Yes, Lord, I should think it is!” Then I burst out laughing.

Up until that time, I had never understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was. This verse seemed to make unbelief totally absurd. I pictured a thirsty little fish who was concerned about drinking the river dry, with the Father saying, “Drink away, little fish; My stream is sufficient for you.” I also envisioned a mouse afraid of starving after seven years of plenty, when Joseph says to him, “Cheer up, little mouse; my granaries are sufficient for you.” Again, I imagined a man on a high mountain peak, saying to himself, “I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I am afraid I will deplete all the oxygen in the atmosphere.” But the earth says to him, “Breathe away, filling your lungs forever; my atmosphere is sufficient for you.”

O people of God, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls. Charles H. Spurgeon

His grace is great enough to meet the great things –
The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,
The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,
The sudden storms beyond our life’s control.

His grace is great enough to meet the small things –
The little pinprick troubles that annoy,
The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,
The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy.
Annie Johnson Flint

There is always a large balance credited to our account in the bank of heaven. It is waiting for us to exercise our faith to draw upon it. Draw heavily upon God’s resources.
[End Excerpt]

With these words, I had my answer to my query to the Father. The banking system of America is about to fall, but the bank of heaven knows no disturbance. The largest draw upon the grace of God will never leave His vast resources diminished one iota.

There was a time some 3,500 years ago that God led a people out from all they had known. Their comfortable homes in Egypt were left behind. The Nile River with its bounty of fish, and abundant flow to supply water to drink and to irrigate the land was to be left behind. The people, millions strong, a vast mixed multitude, all departed from that which they had known. Their lives were altered as greatly as will be the lives of millions of Americans, yet God did not strain to meet all their needs.

Yahweh led an entire nation into a wilderness where there was lack everywhere. It was a very inhospitable place to take a people who needed daily food and water and shelter, yet they found all they needed under the shadow of God’s mighty wings. The God who created the Universe spoke and water poured from a rock, bread rained down daily from heaven and quail were scattered upon the ground all about the camp.

What seems daunting and even impossible to man does not even strain God’s little finger. The load of responsibility and care did not tax His omnipotence then, and it will not do so in the days ahead.

Numbers 11:18-23
“Therefore Yahweh will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month…” But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat in order that they may eat for a whole month.’ Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

What a question to consider! “Is the Lord’s power limited?” The answer is a resounding “NO!” There is no limit to the power of Yahweh God. He is omnipotent; literally “ALL POWERFUL.”

The Lord has testified through many witnesses that He will have a place prepared for His people in the wilderness.

Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Who has prepared the place for the woman who stands as a symbol of the people of God? It is Yahweh, and He has said that she will be nourished.

The entire nation of Israel followed the Lord in the wilderness. They carried what food they had on hand, and nothing more. Very soon, even in a matter of a few days, there food was gone. Then they cried out to God and He sent them the bread of heaven. Oh yes, He tested the people with hunger and thirst to humble them and to see what was in their hearts, but He always had a provision for them. He looked for a people who would manifest a strong confidence in Him.

For a moment I looked at the wind and the waves. I saw the storm rising with mighty fury. I saw the multitudes of God’s people and the inadequacy of man’s ability to meet the challenge. But then God showed me His omnipotence. Where we are weak, He is strong. His GRACE is perfected in our weakness.

If the Father has shown you something to do in order to prepare for the coming day, then do it speedily and with an excellent spirit. Seek Him now, and ask Him to direct your steps and to lead you to those things He would have you to do. But when all is said and done, know that all you can do is insufficient.

In the wilderness period ahead all must learn to lean heavily upon the Father. The weight pressing against Him will seem not so much as a feather. Can a fish drink the ocean dry? Can a man exhaust the stores of air in the heavens by his breathing? Neither will you, or I, or a great multitude of men, women and children begin to diminish the resources He has set aside for the help of His people in a day of need.

Song of Solomon 8:5
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?

In the wilderness the people of God learn to lean upon Him. When the lesson is well learned, then He will bring them up.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063