What thing in your life, if taken away, would make life not worth living? What has to be present in your life for you to feel fulfilled and engaged? A good marriage? A close-knit family? Kids that adore and obey you? A reliable job? A solid bank account? The right party in office?
How you answer those questions shows what constitutes your life’s foundation. And, here’s the bad news: every single one of those foundations will crumble.
The good news is that when your foundation is Jesus, you stand secure in any storm because you know he has power over the storm and will preserve and provide for you in any storm.
I saw an aerial photo from a few years ago of a house on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey, one of the worst hurricanes to make landfall in U.S. history.
It’s a pretty shocking picture. In the midst of total devastation, with houses and other structures totally destroyed, one house in the middle of the photo looks untouched by the storm. You might think the storm missed the house, somehow. But it turns out that particular house was just built differently.
They interviewed the builder, and he said, “Yeah, I built that house with this storm in mind.” He went way beyond code on just about everything. He used 40-foot pilings; he made the house with breakaway walls so that when the winds tore through, there wouldn’t be structural damage.
The builder planned and built that house with a catastrophic storm in mind.
When God provided you with a foundation in Jesus, he had every one of your life’s storms in mind.
So, when you struggle and fall, his death is sufficient to cover and forgive you. When you feel like you have no strength, his resurrection is sufficient to empower you. When you feel lost, his Spirit is sufficient to guide you. When you have nothing left, the riches of his mercy are sufficient to satisfy you.
That old hymn says,
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!
The past year has been a time of great uncertainty and unrest. Has God been shaking you to reveal areas of disobedience? He has consistently done this in my life—showing me the areas I am not surrendered to him by making them fall apart. And when they do, I despair.
But, when we go through a storm in an area of our lives that is surrendered to Jesus, we can say, “No matter what, Jesus, you have this. I will choose to obey. This area belongs to you, and I’ll trust you to provide.”
There is no stronger foundation than the gospel of Jesus Christ, and no storm you cannot face when you submit to him.
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