Storing up

35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.  -Genesis 41

There is such wisdom in God's Word.  I was reading tonight about Pharaoh having a dream and he called Joseph to interpret it.  Joseph told him that a great famine was coming in the land and he told him to prepare for it.  He didn't only tell him to prepare for it, he told him HOW to prepare for it.

We don't watch a lot of TV so I'm not sure it is still popular, but in the past there were preppers who were storing food and supplies for any of a number of apocalyptic scenarios.  We don't consider ourselves preppers and we don't live in fear of doomsday-like events, but it is wise to have food preserved in your pantry. We live on the Gulf coast and hurricanes and bad weather comes frequently, knocking out power.  It is good to have your harvest stored should you ever need it.

Our humble pantry couldn't sustain us for long.  We don't have anywhere near the provisions that Joseph advised Pharaoh to store.  It would feed us for a week or two, perhaps.  As I look at it, it is a colorful reminder of past harvests.  Some years our tomato crop fails and we put up none.  Other years we have stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa.  After crop failure, the pantry can be a confidence builder. "We had success before, and we'll have it again next year!"

It is good to take Joseph's wise advice for livestock, too.  There are dry summers in which the grass doesn't grow.  Because we don't feed our milk cows grain, heat stressed pasture results in milk cows with ribs showing!  For that reason we have a "pantry" full of hay stored away as insurance should the grass not grow.

Like canned vegetables, the hay will keep for a while and can be rolled out to the cows as they need it.

Preparing for tomorrow often involves more than saving up things.  Wendell Berry says it best:

“All we can do to prepare rightly for tomorrow is to do the right thing today.”
— Wendell Berry