Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Genesis 41:33-35, ESV

It's all over the news and social media. America's store shelves are emptier than they have been in most of our lifetimes. It seems like there are consequences to certain types of behavior... who could have predicted such a thing?

A better question is what are we to do now. As a classically trained economist, I have an idea, and that idea is the same one our grandmothers and great grandmothers had without having been handicapped by being trained in formal economics. As a matter of fact, it's the same advice that God had Joseph give Pharaoh when he saw lean times coming: Stock up a bit!

Of course, we have to be careful that by doing so we do not tear down our old barns just to build new ones to hoard so much stuff that we couldn't use it in several lifetimes, but I do believe there is a prudent middle ground that most of us can figure out. Regardless, whatever you do is pretty much between you, your family and God, so we just need to make sure that we are taking proper care of our families while still giving first consideration to God. It's a bit tricky, I know, but that's one of the things that God gives us wisdom for.

A more serious problem than our stores running low on our favorite items is what has been happening to so many people in recent years, and this thing that has been happening is that people have forgotten to put first things first. That's where the words of Jesus come in so handy. You will likely recall the account of when He was being tempted to put physical things over His duty to God.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:1-4, ESV

It is true that all men must eat, but it is also true that our primary concern is to feed our souls. Satan understood that Jesus knew this, but was apparently hoping in His state of duress that He would put aside God's commands for a moment while He took care of His immediate hunger. The beautiful thing about Jesus is that He never put the physical first, and by living in such a way He gave us a standard by which we can live.

The point of all this is that we do live in a physical world, and the physical world's problems are knocking at our door right now. So it's not wrong for us to recognize this and take proper measures to make sure that the physical needs of our families are taken care of, but we have to make sure we take our duty serious by first taking care of their spiritual needs. Again, this can be a challenge, but God has given us all fine minds and He expects us to use them.

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty

Proverbs 22:3, NIV