Every June, in homes across the Caribbean, the same rituals begin. Someone checks the shutters. The torch batteries are tested. Tinned food and bottled water are stacked in the cupboard under the stairs. Grandad climbs up to look at the roof straps and pronounces them “all right, for now”. Nobody knows whether this will be a quiet season or a terrible one. Everyone knows it is better to be ready.
Paul used a similar idea when he wrote to his young friend Timothy:
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2, NIV)
Paul was speaking to a church leader, but the principle of readiness applies to any household that wants to live out its faith. There are convenient seasons and inconvenient ones. The question is whether we are prepared for both.
Storms reveal what was already there
When a hurricane or a crisis comes, it tends to show what a house is really made of. The roof that was properly strapped holds. The one that was just resting on its walls lifts off. The family that had a plan knows where to go. The family that kept meaning to make one scrambles.
The same happens with faith. A sudden illness, a lost job, a pandemic that shuts the churches: these seasons expose whether prayer, Scripture and trust were part of daily life or kept for Sundays. They also reveal whether our homes have been places of welcome, or fortresses we retreat into when things get hard.
A crisis is often an open door
It is striking how often hard seasons bring neighbours closer. After a storm, people who have barely spoken share generators, chainsaws and pots of soup. In a lockdown, someone leaves groceries at an elderly neighbour’s gate. People who would never walk into a church may be very willing to talk honestly over a fence when they are frightened.
Joseph, looking back on years of suffering, told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20, NIV). That is not a promise that every hardship is sent by God. It is a promise that He can bring good out of it, and that His people can be part of that good.
A household that is ready, spiritually and practically, is in a much better position to help when that door opens.
What readiness can look like at home
- A little extra in the cupboard. If you are able, keep a few more supplies than you need, specifically so you can share after a storm or in a shortage.
- Knowing your neighbours. Have phone numbers for the people on either side and across the road, especially anyone elderly or living alone.
- Faith habits that travel. Prayer at meals, a Psalm at bedtime, songs in the car. These continue when church buildings close.
- A readiness to listen. Paul’s words to Timothy mention “great patience”. In crises, people need to be heard more than preached at.
- Honesty about your own fears. Sharing how God has carried you through past storms is often more persuasive than any argument.
Out of season, too
It is easy to be generous and prayerful when a crisis focuses everyone’s attention. The harder part is the ordinary months, when nothing seems urgent. Paul’s “out of season” covers those too. The family that invites the new neighbour to dinner on a quiet Tuesday in February is building the trust that will matter when the next storm comes.
Hurricane preparation works the same way. The roof is strapped in April, not during the storm. The relationships, the habits and the faith that sustain a household through a crisis are built in the calm.
Examining our own house
Paul also urged believers to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Before we think about helping others through hard seasons, it is worth checking our own foundations. Where have we put our hope? In savings, in insurance, in the government, in the strength of our walls? Those things matter and are wise to attend to. But they are not the rock.
For reflection
- If a crisis came to your area tomorrow, how ready would your household be to help someone else?
- What is one “out of season” act of welcome you could make this month?
Lord, You are faithful in every season. Make our home ready: strong in faith, open in welcome and prepared to share. When storms come, let us be a shelter for others, and in the quiet months, let us build what will hold. Bring good out of every hardship, as You did for Joseph. Amen.
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