STABILITY

…he will be the stability of your times…  Isaiah 33:6  ( ESV)

When we were children, Papa decided it was time to find a larger house for his growing family.  We settled in a beautiful new home, and Papa’s diligent gardening made our lawn the envy of the neighborhood.  It wasn’t long, however, when hairline cracks began to appear in the walls of our dream house, and Papa announced that we’d be moving again.

This time Papa didn’t trust a ready-built house for his family.  Not at all.  He and Momo found a one-acre lot in a suburban neighborhood, and Papa and a friend built our forever home from the ground up.  When it came time to put in the landscaping, it was clear why Papa had chosen this particular neighborhood:  under the few inches of topsoil, there was solid rock.  The house is still standing, and when last I was inside, there still wasn’t a crack.

2020 was a year none of us will forget.  Perhaps, with me, you celebrated New Year’s Day with anticipation of a better year—a new vaccine for the dreaded Covid and the opportunity for our country to return to work and to life as we know it.  Perhaps we might even look forward to planning a family trip or a reunion with loved ones we haven’t seen since shut down.

Just barely into January we saw that relief would not be coming soon.  From any quarter around us.  UNLESS we look to the Rock.  Isaiah (51:1-3) from of old exhorts us to:

 ” Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD:  Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn…  For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD.  Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.”

The foundation of our lives, the Rock on which we are built is the only stability that will see us through these stormy times.   And he is sufficient.  He IS the stability of our times; he will not be shaken; he will not be broken; he will not disappear.  Anchored to him, we can weather the tempests, and when they are over, we will still be standing.

              My hope is built on nothing less
              Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
              I dare not trust the sweetest frame
              But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

              On Christ the solid rock I stand
              All other ground is sinking sand
              All other ground is sinking sand.  (Robert Critchley)

Father, save us from ourselves and the false notion of self-reliance.  We stand in you.  In Jesus, our Lord.  AMEN.

STORMS

 

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. Matthew 7:24

 

Many of us are recovering from the effects of bad weather, especially our friends in the Carolinas. But there are other forms of stormy weather that impact our lives. Just now in my circle of family and friends, one young mother is worrying about the leak in their roof not covered by insurance and with no funds set aside for repairs. Another family has been stunned by the tragic death of their young son. Several friends have been dealing with serious illnesses. A very dear elderly lady is losing both sight and hearing, and her children live in other states. And there are others…
Jesus told the story of two men who built houses—one on sand and one on rock. The storm approached and hit both houses. Jesus said that both houses experienced the same assault: “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house” (Matthew 7:25, 27). Yet, the house that was built on a solid foundation, when it was all over, was still standing.
We build our lives and our families over the course of many years. As believers, we integrate the Word into everything we do, making certain that all our life assumptions are founded on the Rock, Jesus Christ. And then, drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit, we discipline ourselves to be doers of the Word and not just professors.
Does this mean that we don’t feel the effects of the storm? That we don’t suffer along with the sand-builders? Absolutely not. It does mean, however, that when the storm passes—and it will pass—we will not have been destroyed. Our confidence and our faith will not have been shaken. We may have lost some shingles and a bit of siding, but we are still standing in trust, grateful for God’s presence, and secure in his love.
Paul addresses this beautifully: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed (II Corinthians 4:8, 9).
Storms come, the streams rise, and the winds blow, but when it’s all over—through God’s grace—we will still be standing.

 

Father, none of us likes storms, but they’re a part of life. Keep us obedient and true to you so that when it’s all said and done, we will be standing, glorifying you. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.