THE 72-HOUR RULE: What can we learn from Noah about Self Reliance

NOAH


"Noah was the son of Lamech who named him Noah, saying, "This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which come from the ground which the LORD hath cursed." wikipedia

The record of Noah starts in the book of Genesis, chapters 6-7 and also in the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price.
Note that the blessing of Noah is that he is a comforter, and a restorer. After the flood waters receded, Noah cultivated a vineyard on good ground, that during the time of Adam the ground had been cursed with thistles and thorns.

Moses 7:42-43
42And Enoch also saw Noah, and his family; that the posterity of all the sons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation;
43Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up 

How did Noah hold on to his faith during those turbulent days and nights of that storm? How did he help his family maintain their faith? What happened after the flood?

Genesis 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee

Every month, I look forward to the new issue of "The Ensign Magazine", and even more so the new Visiting Teaching message. So as I eagarly flipped the pages for the new message, there it was again, Self Reliance. Another article about self reliance; I thought this subject had been taught to the final degree. So I glanced over it and I didn't think about it until yesterday when I was preparing to meet with my VT sisters. I re-read it and prayed to find the message.
What is the difference between being prepared and becoming self reliant? Aren't they the same? What I am learning is that spiritual prepardness leads to temporal self reliance and the two compliment one another. You can't have one with out the other. The principle of self reliance is based on the covenants that we have made with Jesus Christ, and our obedience to His commandments. The Lord has prepared our hearts, even from the very foundation of the world.To manifest temporal self reliance is to trust in our Heavenly Father.

Doctrine and Covenants 29:34–35;
34 Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.
35 Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual

VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE

Strengthening Families through Temporal Self-Reliance
Developing self-reliance—
1. the ability to care for ourselves and our families—is the responsibility of every sister.
2. We become self-reliant as we learn to love work,
3. as we seek inspiration to find the best ways to provide for ourselves, and
4. as we work with family members to meet basic needs. 

When we are self-reliant, we use our blessings and resources to prepare for and avoid problems.
Self-reliance, however, is enhanced as we pray for the courage to meet with faith the challenges that will surely come.
Self-reliance also enables us to keep our covenant to care for others.

Back to my original question concerning Noah. How did he start over again,or maybe the question is how do we start? We seek inspiration (through prayer) to find the best way to provide for ourselves and our families.
God had began to prepare Noah's heart to serve him.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD

Psalm 10:17 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

God revealed his plan to Noah;and in addition to building a home to live in, he and Mrs Noah and their family were responsible for the "food storage" or the emergency preparedness plan, if you will.

Genesis 6:19-21
19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

 In the book of Moses, of the Pearl of Great Price;we are named as the "posterity of Noah". This is the promise or the covenant made for us

Moses 7:42 And Enoch also saw Noah, and his family; that the posterity of all the sons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation

What is that temporal salvation? Is it Temporal Self Reliance?

(Noah's patriarchial blessing)
Moses 8:
8And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and begat a son,
9And he called his name Noah, saying: This son shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath acursed.

What is the work of our hands? Is it our homes and families, is it our jobs,our possesions. I believe that being temporally self reliant teaches us how to be good stewards of all that God has given us. I am sure this ties in with tithing. I am humbled by this information, and now I can just "get over myself".
Sister Julie Beck, General Relief Society President, relates a personal story that I feel sums up what the Lord is teaching us, what it is that he wants us to do. 

Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president, explains that “providing for ourselves and others is evidence that we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. … When [my mother-in-law] passed away suddenly last year, she left evidence of her self-reliant life. She had a current temple recommend and well-used scriptures and gospel study manuals. We lovingly divided up the pots, pans, and dishes with which she had prepared thousands of meals. She left us quilts she had made from old clothing. She believed in the old adage ‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.’ We saw the supply of food she had grown, preserved, and stored. Particularly touching were her little account books in which she faithfully recorded her expenditures over many years. Because she lived providently, she left some money she had saved for emergencies, and she left no debts! Most importantly, she had taught and inspired many others with the skills she had acquired during her faithful life.”

 Wow, what a great lesson this is. Earlier this week, I cleaned out and reorganized my food storage closet. It is not much, not even a years worth, I have had to use some of it the last 2 years. I am running out of water and my husband is still eating all of the peanut butter. I was a little panicky because food costs are going up, along with everything else. But I now realize that the Lord has given us sufficientcy in all things, even food and water, even our homes and cars, even our families. I feel that the lesson for us is to trust in God at all times, and in all situations, feast or famine. He will bring everything to pass. 

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.