“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And 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. 26And 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. 27And 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.” Matthew 7:24-27
As one blessed enough to live on the east coast, I have experienced my share of hurricanes. The roar of the wind can be terrifying and the strength of the rain can make you believe that the glass in the windows is going to shatter at any moment. The storm surge from the ocean and intracoastal waterway is extraordinarily threatening. Those that live to close to the beach have seen their homes washed away. My grandparents, who used to live across the street from the beach, once lost their roof.
We are all familiar with storms. Not just storms such as hurricanes or severe thunderstorms, but also the storms of life that may make us stronger, but also may make us waver on temporarily soggy, hardship-saturated ground. Unstable ground. Storms such as illness, damaged relationships, divorce, sudden tragedy. These storms can pelt, batter, and wear us down. They can erode our hope, our confidence, and our courage.
When we find ourselves in one of the above situations, worn to the quick, we may feel we are left barely standing with nothing to hold on to. So what then do we do? I suppose that depends on what our weary feet are grounded in.
Like the account mentioned above in Matthew, the man whose house–whose very foundation–was built upon sand, was left with nothing when the storms of life came. His home was destroyed, greatly so. Meanwhile, the man with the wisdom to build his home on the rock saw that his home stood firm through the storm. The wise man’s home was hit with the same barrage of winds, faced with the same torrential downpour, but stood firm. The verse does not address whether or not the wise man’s home may have lost a few shingles, developed a few leaks, or saw a damaged shutter or two. Life storms certainly have an effect on us, but the importance of the parable in Matthew is that the house did not fall.
Acts 4:11-12 states: 11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The concept of the cornerstone is a foundation stone, the first stone set and by which all other stones are set; it is said to determine the position of the entire structure. It could be argued that the wise man not only built his home on the rock (another name for God, ie “Rock of Ages”), but also by incorporating Christ as the cornerstone, as the Matthew parable states that “everyone who hears these words and does them will be like the wise man…”. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and hearing and acting upon His words adds to the structure and stability of our lives.
When you are grounded in the Lord with Christ as the cornerstone, you are building the most stable and structurally sound life you can build. You are living a life that is built around the word of God. You are building a life that will withstand any storm life throws at you. Our Lord is the ultimate source of stability and when everything around you is crashing down, He is holding you tight.
*This post is part of Rachel Olsen’s May devotion carnival on the topic of stability. Please visit her site to read the thoughts of other ladies on stability!
Dancing in the Mundane 