THE COMING ECONOMIC MELTDOWN – PART 2
What We Can Do To Prepare Ourselves (Before The Rapture)
I’m posting this not to scare people, but I am writing this to inform people. I have to be honest with you and tell you that I can’t sugar-coat things about the economic crisis that we are now facing. I don’t want you to think that I’m very negative because I’m not a negative person but what I see coming from a biblical perspective is this financial tsunami coming straight for us. No one knows the exact course it will take but I’m certain that most people will suffer badly. There is nothing anyone can do to stop it as it’s predestined to come as prophesied in Scripture but there are steps one can take to soften the financial blow from the coming economic meltdown and hopefully helping friends and family through these chaotic economic times.
Even though the Church will not go through the end time tribulation events, we will be in this end time financial mess leading up to the Tribulation which will only accelerate making it very difficult for people to navigate the coming global economic meltdown and reset of the world’s financial systems. This economic meltdown will reveal the intersection of our current economic crisis with Bible prophecy. If you have turned on your TV or read newspapers, you already know that we are facing an economic crisis that the world has never experienced before. World banks have thrown trillions of dollars at this crisis along with 4000-year low interest rates to try to stop it but it’s been nothing more than a band aid in kicking the can further down the road to a financial Armageddon.
This is not a crisis that just happened overnight, it was decades in the making. We can certainly look at 1971 when then President Richard Nixon took the US out of the world gold standard. Governments were no longer accountable and could print up the money they needed and politicians being politicians bribed people with their own money and made all kinds of promises to get elected. This pushed us each year further and further into debt – governments just printed money and were not held accountable. When this mega bubble of all bubble’s collapses, there won’t be just the wealthy experiencing a mass destruction of their wealth, but the masses will lose their jobs, Social Security, and pensions. Sadly, the inevitable consequences are massive socially, economically, and financially. There will be major global civil unrest.
Having said all this, I’m going to go back to where I left off at my last posting and continue with some of the basic, simple, common-sense things we can do to prepare ourselves for the hard economic times ahead of us. After seeing what I’ve written, you will understand, and you can apply your own thoughts and ideas in regard to your own situation and what you can do to prepare yourself and your family. Here they are:
6. Bartering items are a must. You should consider items that you can barter with should paper money not be accepted. Basically, that could be anything that people need to live on. Again, don’t get carried away with this. If you have too much stuff on hand you become a target for someone to come and take it away. All over the globe, the central banks of the world are recklessly printing money, and it doesn’t take a genius to know it’s going to end very badly. In time of economic crisis collector items, precious metals, coins, diamonds, artworks, and other tangible items do very well because it is real money for exchange or bartering whereas the fiat currencies (paper money) of the world will not hold their value or people won’t accept it in exchange for goods. Someday you may be glad that you invested in some gold or silver coins to help you through these hard times. But don’t get carried away with any one item as any thing can be used. Yes, hundreds of items can be used for trade or barter just decide what best fits your situation.
- 7. Moving to a more rural area and away from the super big cities if possible. For many people, this is simply not possible as it is with me and my wife’s health condition. But if you are able, now’s a good time to do the move. When the next number of major economic downturn strikes, there could be a lot of social unrest and a dramatic rise in crime in the major cities. If you’re able to move to a more rural area you will be in much better shape. If you are in a big city, you need to network with people in your own neighborhood that are trustworthy.
- 8. Good idea to store some non-perishable supplies. In a crisis there could be disruption in the food supply due to a number of reasons. For instance, if there is a truckers strike there will be lack of transportation where trucks can’t go to refill supermarket shelves due to an economic crisis. Remember that food stores can be cleared out within 48 hours if panic sets in. Our society is so fragile, so dependent on the interworking of things to provide us with the goods and services that any major disruption can disturb or stop the supply chain of food or any other service. At minimum two to three weeks of non-perishable supplies would be a good idea. Thank God we have such a wide variety of quality canned goods available to us such as salmon, sardines, ham, turkey, vegetables, beans, cereals, grains, etc. Also remember when store shelves are low, prices for food or goods will shoot up.
- 9. Learn to grow some of your own food. This is a skill that most of our parents possessed in the past. Growing your own food and canning it is a way to become more independent of the system, and it is a way to get prepared for what is ahead. Even if you don’t have acreage most city lots would provide you space to have a garden to grow vegetables, etc.
- 10. Nobody can survive without water. It is imperative that you have a plan to provide clean drinking water for your family when disaster strikes. Make sure that you’re not caught without a decent source of water in the years ahead. Five drops of laundry bleach per gallon will purify water in a few hours.
- 11. Have a plan for when the grid goes down. What would you do if the grid went down, and you suddenly did not have power for an extended period? You need to have a plan for how you are going to provide power to your home that is independent of the power company.
- 12. Store medicine, medical and personal hygiene supplies. You definitely would not want to be without bandages and a first aid kit. You also do not want to run out of any medications that are crucial for your health. Also, personal hygiene items that you would greatly miss if you did not have them stored up. Painkillers, cold medicine, vitamins, and other health, skin, eye and oral care products you would want to have on hand.
- 13. Community – develop stronger relationships. One of the most important assets in any crisis situation is community. If you have friends or neighbors that you can depend upon when times get hard, that is invaluable. The time spent building those bonds now will pay off greatly during a major crisis. In most crisis, people survive through their knowledge, wits, and by helping each other out. You also need to remember that unexpected times brings out the best and worst in people and you need to prepare for this possibility. (Don’t put all your eggs in one basket)
- 14. Get educated and learn some skills. When things are rapidly changing it is imperative to get educated and stay informed so that you will know what to do. The best physical preparation anyone can make for the coming hard times is to have an indispensable skill that others need. Basic skills like being a handyman fixing things, foraging, hunting, and farming will do well. Of course, not everyone can acquire such skills, but if you have the opportunity to learn one, then do so. I can see tradesmen and handymen being in great demand.
- 15. Have a backup plan and be flexible. No plan ever unfolds perfectly. When your plan is disrupted, what will you do? The times ahead are going to require us all to be very flexible, and it is those who are willing to adapt that will do the best when things get tough. Remain calm and maintain a positive state of mind.
- 16. What can we learn from our parents? During the hard times of the 30’s and 40’s my parents had to be independent and self-sufficient to survive and provide for us. I remember growing up on the farm, we didn’t have money but none of us kids went without food. I remember my parents going to town once or twice a month to buy basic things like flower, sugar, kerosene, canning and other things from the store which the farm didn’t provide. The farm provided mom with a huge garden to grow her own vegetables and berries which would provide us with food over the winter. We had cows that provided us with milk, cream and butter and we had livestock, sheep and pigs that provided us with meat. Also, chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese provided us with eggs, meat and feathers that mom used to make down comforters. Talk about recycling; nothing much was thrown away. Even the slops were mixed with grain and given to the pigs. In those days we were totally off the grid never having to rely on electricity. We used kerosene lamps for light and burned mostly wood in the stoves except at night we would use slow burning coal to last over the evening. Talk about being self-sufficient! Now things have changed and very few of us live on farms but those that do and have the ability to be self-sufficient will be the fortunate ones to weather the coming economic crisis.
- 17. Invest in what is permanent and eternal. The most important preparation you can make is putting your faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Pray and ask for His guidance in your efforts to prepare for whatever calamity the future holds. God knows what is coming and what you need, and He will guide and assist you if you trust in Him. That’s the very best advice I could give you.
KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME AND YOUR HOPE IN GOD
As I have shown you in these past two postings, we are living in very fragile times. The truth is these are unprecedented times. We are charting new territory almost every day. I hope these postings have opened your eyes to a few things about the future and the end times and the national and international economy that you may not have been aware of. You and I can do nothing about the problems we see in the world economic order as they are predestined to come. We cannot control world economics, but we can do much to control our own destiny and where we will spend eternity.
Yes, our financial security can vanish very quickly. All of us are sure to be affected in some way by the financial storms that lay just ahead of us. Some of us may have already felt the pinch. We cannot escape what is happening in the world. As I have discussed earlier, we are now seeing the looming shadow being cast by biblically predicted events, and we cannot avoid living under that shadow. We may experience difficulties due to the global economic and political disintegration, but if we know that we are in God’s hands we can trust Him for our future well-being. Even though the world may be spinning out of control, we have good reason to hope. We have a heavenly home that awaits us. Better still, we are going to be with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, for all eternity along with God, the Father, and God, the Holy Spirit and nothing gets better than this. Amen.
Oscar