If you want to increase your chances of surviving the coming storm, you need to be prepared for the following disruptions to life as you know it.

1. Rising temperatures, extreme droughts, unusual storms, crop failures, disruptions in the supply chain, cyber attacks, and planned interference with food sources by world powers themselves are likely to lead to extreme shortages. You need to stock up with enough food to last for months, possibly even years. Food is likely to become a form of currency when things get really bad.

You will need an entire pantry devoted to this just to start. Ideally you should have a Costco-sized warehouse of long-lasting foods high in calories and rich in nutrients, including canned goods, dehydrated foods, and specially prepared survival meals.

But that is not enough.

2. Extreme droughts, cyber attacks, power outages, and contamination might cause a severe water shortage. You need to prepare by stockpiling water for drinking and for washing. You will need huge drums to store water, a mechanism to capture and store rainwater, and a way to purify water from potentially contaminated sources.

But that is not enough.

3. The grid can go down for an extended period of time. You will need a reliable, long-lasting power source for lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, and powering your electronic devices. This means high quality solar panel kits and generators, as well as power packs and plenty of batteries.

But that is not enough.

4. You will need an ample supply of other essentials to see you through the coming storm. This includes medication, tools, high-quality apparel, and basic household supplies that you take for granted now, but might be in short supply when the storm hits. You will also need plenty of cash, precious metals, and commodities to barter if the system breaks down.

But that is not enough.

5. You will need a way to conceal your stockpile of stuff. It's quite possible that the government will try to seize precious assets or marauders will go around looking to loot. You need to build underground storage units or otherwise find places to hide your stuff that will be easy for you to access but inconspicuous to those snooping for it.

But that is not enough.

6. You will need a way to defend yourself, your property, and your supplies. Now is the time to legally acquire a firearm, as much ammunition as possible, and learn how to use it. In addition, or if this is not possible, you need to acquire alternative means of defending yourself, such as a bow and arrow, a sword, or other weapons, and learn how to use them. You will need different weapons both for long-distance and short-distance combat situations. You will also need to learn hand-to-hand combat.

But that is not enough.

7. You cannot hold off everyone or fight forever. You might need to get out of dodge for a variety of reasons. You will need at least one bug-out location (preferably several contingencies), plus a variety of escape plans from your current location. You need to have maps and know the terrain. You need to have a way to escape if the streets are swarming with rioters, police, the military, floods, fires, downed trees, clogged roads, and anything else you can imagine. If you haven't dug an escape tunnel, now is the time.

But that is not enough.

8. You will need a backpack with plenty of essential supplies and important personal effects that you can grab and go on a moment's notice. This bag should contain everything you need to survive until you can reach your bug-out location. Since there is no telling how long that might take, or if you might need to escape town completely, it needs to have a lot of stuff. But it also needs to be something you can easily carry on the run. Figure that one out yourself.

But that is not enough.

9. You will need to be in excellent physical condition to schlep a heavy bug-out bag filled with stuff on foot in difficult conditions for an extended period of time, during which you are not likely to be eating, drinking, or sleeping enough, and will be in a constant state of alert. You need to work out and prepare your body religiously to survive what is coming.

But that is not enough.

10. You will need a vehicle to transport you and your essentials out of town if you can get out while things are relatively good. Ideally this will transport you to a longer-term bug-out location, such as a homestead or a place you have already scouted and prepared in the forest. Such a location should be near plenty of natural resources and stocked with everything you need to live off the grid for the long haul. You will also need a highly developed security system to detect potential intruders and weapons to defend your remote castle from anyone who might stumble upon your hidden oasis.

But that is not enough.

11. You will need to have the skills to survive on your own, or with a small group of trusted individuals, for the long haul. You will need plenty of farmland and seeds to grow your own food. You will need to know how to farm, how to hunt, how to fish, how to treat injuries and illnesses, how to build things, how to repair things, what plants are edible, how to receive information from whatever is left of civilization, and how to have fun when the novelty of surviving in no-man's land wears off.

But that is not enough.

12. You might be forced to flee your primary bug-out location if the government or gangs come after you. So you will need an alternative location. And so on.

But that is not enough.

13. Even if you can successfully bug-out somewhere for the long-haul, nuclear, chemical, and biological attacks might make even your remote location unlivable. You will need hazmat suits, gas masks with plenty of replacement filters, radiation detectors, a bomb shelter, and preferably an underground bunker with enough supplies to last indefinitely. That's assuming you survive the initial fallout, of course.

But that is not enough.

It can never be enough. There will always be more ways bad people or the elements can kill you than you can prevent. Everything you do to strengthen yourself in one area only leaves you less prepared and more vulnerable in another.

Let's face it. No matter what you do, you're most likely doomed, especially if enough people set their sights on you.

But there is one other thing you can do to prepare.

14. Turn to God with sincerity and pray from the heart. Place your complete dependence on God to protect you from any and all threats. If you do this, you can almost entirely skip the previous steps.

This does not conflict with taking reasonable precautions against clear threats. By all means, don't leave your cupboards bare if you can afford to stock them. Don't wait until you run out of everything until you get more. Be intelligent and responsible. But don't go crazy. Don't go overboard. Don't make it an endless lifestyle of preparing for anything and everything. It's nothing more than a coping mechanism to give you the illusion of control when you really have none.

Seriously, do you really think you can prepare in material ways for what's coming? Do you really think you can outrun, outlast, and outsmart all those who seek to harm you, take your stuff, and make it impossible to survive with liberty?

Do you really think God will abandon everyone but those with the most food and resources?

So the best way to prepare for what is coming – really, the only way – is to realize from a deep place that you can't, and only God can save you. Then do whatever you can to get on God's good side to increase your chances.

This doesn't guarantee that you will be saved. We don't know when our time is or what God's plan is for any of us. But it's the only chance we have, and it's the only form of preparation that is guaranteed to benefit us no matter what happens.

That is enough.

(You might also like this article: Prepping in the Torah.)