Stand on the Rock

The first thing I notice in this parable is how Jesus doesn’t say “if the rain and floods come,” He says “and the rain fell and the floods came.” That’s important. Jesus doesn’t sugar coat here. There will be rainy days and flood seasons of our lives. I don’t think he is referring to physical rain or flood but seasons where our life’s foundation is tested. The season we find ourselves in is one no-one could have dreamed or imagined. If you were to sit down and picture the most crazy scenarios, I bet most of us wouldn’t see churches closed, business doors shut, meat isles wiped out and toilet paper being near impossible to find. I bet we couldn’t have imagined we’d be fighting an invisible enemy like COVID-19. But, yet, here we are in the middle of this testing season and so the question I propose is where is your foundation built?

Trials have a way of revealing our character and what we hold most valuable—it reveals our foundation. When you begin to build a house you don’t start with the roof and build down from the roof, you start with a a concrete foundation, something that will stand the test of time, and build up around it. I think our lives reflect this same principle. From an early age—we have many messages instilled in us about what building materials our foundation should include. We grab onto things that we think will make the foundation strong and secure—for some that’s money—a padded savings account or massive retirement funding for the unknowns of the future. For some it might be possessions—a beautiful home, a dependable vehicle, a garage full of toys that promise fun family memories.

Maybe your foundation is work—a trade you spent years perfecting to secure that salary. Maybe your foundation is community—the circles you invest in that promise to fill the void of loneliness.… I think you get the idea. Yet, the Coronavirus had a way of wrecking each of those previously mentioned values in less than a week. The stock market crashed, jobs and salaries on hold, mortgages unable to be paid, community events canceled. What’s crazy is that each of those pieces of the foundation aren’t bad, but if this crisis has revealed anything, it’s revealed that they are temporary. And temporary things will never stand the test of storms in our life. The only foundation that cannot be crashed, laid off, canceled, or repossessed is Jesus—his message—his model of loving those around him in the midst of brokenness. This immovable, unchanging, unbreakable foundation was laid through the cross. You are claimed as a child of God. After this is all over (and it will be), will your foundation look differently? Will this be our wake up call to build the rest of our life upon the rock which will stand the test of time?

I challenge you today to study and meditate upon the God’s character, from Genesis to Revelation, shown in the person of Jesus. Look at how he lead his people during times of suffering and may we find our place in this story of redemption, that we along with all the people of God around the world can say to our children twenty years from now, the Coronavirus meant to destroy us, but God continued to provide and led us out of the darkness and into his light. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

Father, so many times I place my hope and trust in things that won’t last. Open my eyes and heart to the stuff that takes precedent over my relationship with you. Allow me to see it and make the changes necessary to rebuild my life and start with a foundation the will last. I pray that I place my hope and trust in you, Jesus, and my foundation is the Word of God, the rock, the only thing that will stand the test of time. Amen.