Winter Is Coming

Winter is coming. Long before author George R.R. Martin popularized this phrase, it was a biblical warning:

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.

   Learn from their ways and become wise!

Though they have no prince

   or governor or ruler to make them work,

they labor hard all summer,

   gathering food for the winter.

But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

   When will you wake up?

A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

   a little folding of the hands to rest—

then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

   scarcity will attack you like an armed robber (Prov. 6:6–11).

There are seasons of plenty, and there are seasons of want. Sometimes they are unanticipated, but often they can be foreseen, and it is wise to plan ahead and take actions to prepare based upon what we know about these seasons.

Lean times are a reality of life. King Solomon’s proverb addresses the concerns of an agrarian society, but in our modern American context, we might consider other hazardous seasons that can be reasonably anticipated. Economically, we anticipate seasons of inflation and deflation, seasons of collapsing markets, and bear market seasons. Some areas of the country anticipate seasons of increased natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes. Other areas of the country anticipate health concerns like an allergy season, or a cold and flu season. Awaiting and preparing for hazardous seasons of life is both natural and prudent.

Elsewhere, Solomon warns, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Prov. 22:3). The Bible encourages us to prepare for lean and difficult times, and it speaks poorly of those who either blind themselves to reality or who simply refuse to do anything about it. Perhaps we do not need to prepare to weather the apocalypse, but we ought to be prepared to withstand seasons of disruption to our nation’s supply chain, an unforeseen injury, an inability to find work, a period of inflation, a natural disaster, or any number of other difficulties. Winter is coming, and we have a responsibility to be prepared when it arrives.

This article comes from Heart of a Forerunner: How to Be a Relevant and Influential Voice in a Wayward Nation