We have moved on from the early COVID days of hunkering down and hoarding to go bags, which my reliable dictionary defines as a “bag packed with survival supplies and kept ready for use in case of an emergency that requires rapid evacuation.”

One site encourages go bags that “strike a balance between being well prepared and having a go bag that’s easy to maintain and carry. Exactly what you pack depends on you and your location (e.g., weather; cash-based economy; availability of food, water, and medicine).” It then provides a checklist of twenty-seven items, each with a sub list of five or more items to pack in that easy-to-maintain-and-carry go bag.

I am in favor of go bags, but I can’t help envisioning mine becoming bigger and bigger as I keep adding to it just in case, well, just in case of an emergency. I not only want to be prepared but also overprepared for any impending disaster.

My mom and mother-in-law carried their go bags in the cricks of their elbows, and rarely left home without them—emergency or no emergency. The true emergency was when my mom misplaced her early model of a go bag, and we would turn the house upside down to find it.

I don’t think the Bible has its ancient versions of go bags. Abraham grabbed all his bags and packed up his household when the Lord said, “Go from our country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8)—hardly the best plan for rapid evacuation and preparedness—but it was more than enough for Abraham because his security was in the God who said go.

In Psalm 91, however, the psalmist’s security was in the God who said hold fast as the arrows flew by day, pestilence stalked in darkness and destruction lay waste at noon. The psalmist’s emergency plan was the God in whom he trusted. God said hold fast, so he did. Who needs a go bag when you have shelter and refuge.

Well, I still need one. God says go, and I say yes, as I am stuffing the bag with my plans to make my future secure. God says stay, and I dive into the bag looking for what I need to control the hard situation.

The New City Catechism asks: “What is our only hope in life and death?”

The answer: “That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.”

I think it’s time to empty the go bag.