The rest of the story often is overlooked. The Lord returned to the area and great crowds showed up for the wrong reasons. I am sure some were truly hungry and some were looking for an easier day in a life where you could not simply stop for fast food. He was there to feed them spiritually rather than physically and they were not fed fishes and loaves that day.
During a conference talk on healing the sick Elder Oaks quotes Brigham :
The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings. When a person requested a priesthood blessing, Brigham Young would ask, “Have you used any remedies?” To those who said no because “we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed,” President Young replied: “That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and [then] to ask my Father in Heaven … to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.”
To my way of thinking this is a parallel to do not expect the Lord to cover our Sins of omission.
We are blessed with the yearning to cling to life and procreate. But we who have the gospel should realize that the end goal is not surviving temporally and lingering here but to survive spiritually and return home to the highest kingdom.
I believe that like Tithing is a commandment tied which blesses us for obedience but does not necessarily result in more wealth, the commandment to store food is not necessarily to assure all eat well and suffer not. It is to build faith, allow the Lord to bless us along the way for our obedience and when hard times come, the burdens may be made lighter.
I see the window for preparing and obeying the commandment narrowing. Much like the days of Noah as the time for the floods got closer and closer. It is still possible to obey but it is getting harder with weaker and weaker economy and tighter budgets and church cannery changes etc.... Tougher but still possible. Like the 10 virgins, its getting very close to the hour and stocking up on oil is going to be a bit more challenging.
Hopefully my ward will feel the spirit and those who have some make up work to do will get on the stick.
I appreciate this thread as it has given me a few items I plan to include in my Sacrament talk i was assigned recently.
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