Will Property and Food Be Useful During the Time of Trouble?

No, houses, lands, and hoarded food will be of no use and actually detrimental during the time of troubleExV 45.1+1. While God provides for our needs now through the harvest, the coming crisis will require a total reliance on His miraculous power rather than on physical stores or possessionsCCh 281.4+1.

🏠 Possessions and Properties

• Encumbrances to Faith: Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints because they will be forced to flee from their possessions before infuriated mobsExV 45.1+1.

• No Market for Sale: At that time, it will be impossible to dispose of property to advance the cause of truth; therefore, the Lord desires His people to cut loose from these encumbrances nowCS 59.4+1.

• The Altar of Sacrifice: If you place your property on the altar and ask God for duty, He will teach you the right time to dispose of these things so you are not weighed down by clogs during the crisisExV 45.1+1.

• Violence and Loss: Any food or property laid up in the field will be taken by violent hands, and strangers will reap the fields that were meant for the saintsHOMI September 1893, page 171.9+1.

🌾 The Futility of Hoarding Food

• Contrary to Divine Instruction: Making provision for temporal wants in the time of trouble is contrary to the BibleCCh 281.4+1.

• Supernatural Spoilage: Some who fear rising prices and buy food to lay it by will find that their stores breed worms and become unfit for use when the time of need arrivesBroadside2 January 31, 1849, par. 9.

• Economic Restrictions: The wicked will cut off resources so that the people of God can neither buy nor sell, making traditional means of sustenance impossible Revelation 13:172MR 207.5+1.

✨ God's Sure Provision

• Bread and Water are Sure: During this period, God will sustain His people; our bread and water will be sure, and we shall not suffer hunger Isaiah 33:16CCh 281.4.

• Miraculous Sustenance: If necessary, the Lord will spread a table in the wilderness, send ravens to feed His children as He did for Elijah, or rain down manna from heavenCCh 281.4.

• The Opportunity of Necessity: Human necessity becomes God's opportunity to impart strengthening power and sustain those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice Psalms 50:51T 206.1.

• Focus on Spiritual Preparation: Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and ensure the law of God is written in our hearts, rather than seeking to secure temporal goodsEW 57.2+1.

In summary, while we are to labor with our hands and be industrious now, the time of trouble will be a season where we must stand wholly by faith, trusting that the Lord, who owns the world and is rich in resources, will provide for every need1T 206.1+2.