I have been thinking about a Bible passage from Matthew 7:24-27 where Jesus teaches the following:“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundations on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Hurricane Ike has been the top news story for the past week. From its birthplace off the African coast, moving along at a leisurely 15-20 miles per hour, it took Ike a week to make landfall in the Galveston area. People had a whole week to evacuate, and yet… some chose not to heed the warnings. There was ample time to get out, there was ample transportation for all, and there was ample shelter in safe havens on higher ground. Some people can hear the words, but don’t want to put them into practice. In their minds, they thought they would ride out the hurricane much like any other storm. After all, Ike was only a category 2 hurricane, perhaps strengthening a bit to become a category 3 upon making landfall.
The trouble was that this particular hurricane had become as big as the whole state of Texas… filling up the entire Gulf of Mexico! Even with only 100 mile-an-hour winds the driving rains were enough to blow out windows in many of Houston’s high rise buildings, raining lethal shards of glass onto the streets below. While the city of Galveston is protected by a 17-foot high seawall, Ike was pushing a 20-25 foot storm surge toward a protective wall that would come up just a bit short. The streams were sure to rise, along with a huge wall of water coming in from the sea! The very thing that makes Galveston so popular, being right on the Gulf Coast and right at sea level, is the very thing that places the city at such risk to the forces of hurricanes.
Oh… and all the houses built right along the shore… just what do you suppose those foundations are built upon? Sand; that’s right! If I lay a tape measure up against the outside of my house (in Galveston), and EVERYBODY is predicting a storm surge of 20-25 feet, I can pretty accurately gauge just how much of my house is going to be underwater. Those that chose not to evacuate soon found themselves in need of rescue, and that was before the full force of the hurricane came ashore. Emergency crews worked to rescue foolish people; people who had not listened and suddenly found themselves being washed and blown away. The crews worked heroically until the force of the storm made further rescues impossible. Ultimately, the rain came down, the sea rose, and the winds blew and beat against the houses, and many fell with a great crash.
My heart, our hearts, should go out to all the people who suffered loss from this hurricane. We should lift them up in prayer. We should support and contribute to relief efforts, but we should also take heed!
Jesus said that we should not just listen to His words, but put them into practice! How can I emphasize that enough?!? Are the foundations of your life built upon Jesus (the rock)? Or… are your foundations built upon what you can do (sand), on what the world says is acceptable (more sand), or perhaps on nothing at all (quicksand)? Rest assured there are hurricanes coming into your life. Some of you have already endured a hurricane or two. What will yours be: death of a loved one, divorce, addiction, depression, rejection, loss of employment, betrayal, or sickness? Sometimes it can feel like you are right in the middle of the storm track, with hurricane after hurricane slamming into your life.
Want to make sure your life is built upon the Rock? Listen to Jesus, and put His words into practice! How do you accomplish that? Simple… get involved in your Christian fellowship (church). Make sure that you are studying God’s Word (Bible study), attend worship and get involved, and open your heart to God in regular prayer (Jesus taught his disciples a good prayer; see Matthew 6:9-15). Jesus told us how to lay our foundation on the rock:
I’ll see you at worship, and we can lay some foundation… together.“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
John 15:12
Your brother in Christ,
Dave Hoag
I know that Job suffered much more than anything I have gone through. But I have gone through a lot. I have often wondered about people who got mad and turned away from God when they hit a hard patch; I wonder if their foundation was on 'religion' instead of on the Lord and the relationship with Him and His church, our brothers and sisters. Even Jesus asked God why He had forsaken him; of course He hadn't. But we feel like that sometimes. But amidst my feelings of aloneness I have been reminded that I am NOT alone, my brothers and sisters have reached out to me, hung on to me so that I could hang on, reminded me HOW MUCH God LOVES me, and that He is my refuge and my strength. I have no strength in the face of a hurricane, literally or figuratively. But He shelters me and keeps my soul unto himself. All I have to do is flee to him for refuge, safe haven, shelter. I cannot make myself a shelter that will stand. But what a wonderful thing it is that He has already taken care of us, before we ask!
ReplyDelete“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-3
ReplyDeleteMonica’s response spurred me to search the Bible for “Lord is my refuge”, and I found 16 different references. All refer to God as our refuge, but (for the purposes of this thread) I liked the one from Psalm 18 best.
"I’ll see you at worship"
ReplyDeleteWell, some of us are a little far to show up in person. Thanks for the subscription availability, and avatar. That way I can get an idea of people and they can get an idea of me. As we are all one family, as Dave lives so well (ybic = your brother in Christ)
This week I have been singing one particular song a lot; enjoying these two phrases particularly;
"He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock..
He hideth my life in the depths of His love..."