Matthew 7:24-27 ESVEveryone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
When I was a small boy, I remember a news story about a new building collapsing down in southwestern Ohio. My father, who was in construction, told me that it had collapsed because the construction company got bonuses if they completed their work by a certain date so they hadn’t given the foundation enough time to set before they built the building on top of it. Without a solid foundation, nothing can stand.
What is the foundation for your life? Where does your identity come from? What gives your life meaning? For some people it is their career. For others it is a relationship, or social standing, or finances, or political ideology, or (fill in the blank). The problem is that all of these can, and eventually will, fail you. Careers can be derailed, relationships end, or money lost.
Every foundation can seem solid enough when times are good. However, a universal constant is that times do no stay good. In every life, storms will come. Whether it is health issues, or economic downturn, or personal betrayal, or death of a loved one, we can be sure that bad times will happen. It is under the pressure of hardship that weak foundations begin to crumble.
When we have a solid foundation for our life, we can weather the storms that will inevitably come. God is the only foundation that is certain to never fail. Nothing that life can throw at us will ever be devastating enough to make God crack. He will always remain rock steady and be a firm foundation for us to build our life upon.
We must make sure God Himself is our foundation though. Sadly, many times people think God is their foundation but in truth they are relying on a god of their own creation. Jesus says in the above passage that we must listen to His words. The Bible tells us who and what God is. Sometime people pick the passages that they like and construct their version of God out of them. Then they may throw in some cultural concepts that sound good. What they end up with is a false god of their own creation that has no real power. Then when times get tough their foundation dissolves because it was fashioned out of a phantom.
When the true God depicted in the Bible is our foundation nothing can shake us. Tough times will come but we can have peace and joy that surpasses human understanding. Our circumstances and situation need no longer to determine our attitude and inner well-being. We can remain firmly grounded on the Rock!
Lord God, You are the true Rock and firm foundation for my life. Thank You for keeping me grounded and secure.