Perhaps you can recall my raving over our gorgeous hickory trees that become so resplendent with leaves transforming to a brilliant golden color every Autumn.  Their colorful Fall wardrobe is a great source of pleasure to my eyes, and I await with anticipation each year for this amazing color change.  As much as I adore these lovely trees, they are also a source of irritation to my husband and me.  Before their colorful transition, they release an abundance of hickory nuts onto our large deck.  This year we have seen an unbelievable increase in their gifting of nuts to the point that our deck requires a daily sweeping to clear the debris.  (Not to say that we always keep up with this dilemma.)

Upon observing the untidy array on our deck, we realized that our gutters must also be full of this undesired mess; therefore, my husband called for an estimate on gutter cleaning.  My doorbell rang shortly after the employee finished his appraisal of our situation.  He quickly informed me that the squirrels had made good use of the hickory nuts.  He explained they had stacked an abundance of the frustrating nuts, row by row, into the corners of our gutters.  He said they were neatly placed and made readily available for future use in the prediction of a tough winter.  No wonder the downspouts were not draining properly!
Ugh!

My mind began turning as I learned a spiritual lesson – yes, from the squirrels!  Am I stocked and ready for the storms that might be ahead?  What about you? What does it take to prepare? 

Our daily preparation comes from reading the Word of God on a consistent basis.  Prayer is absolutely vital as a part of this preparing and also must be done with daily consistency.  We cannot be slack in these provisions as we are unaware of when the storm may approach.  Attending God’s House helps stock our storage bins and will keep them full and ready for whatever comes our way.  Just as we stock our garages with ice melt, snow blowers and shovels because we are oblivious to the type of storm headed our way, we must be ready in the spirit for the circuitous paths we may approach.  We don’t expect sickness, job loss or financial disasters, but they do happen and can become a devastation if we have not made proper preparation.

And, more importantly, is to be ready for the return of our Lord, the most important event to ever take place!  These same spiritual applications will keep us ready and prepared for this great occasion.

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