When the winds come……

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And 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. And 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. And 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

The idea of building a house on a rock, a solid foundation, versus sand, a weak foundation, is a powerful picture. The implication in these verses is that the wind will always come. If a house is not built on a solid foundation, it will crumble.

For me personally, the wind has come on many occasions in my life. I wrote about the different winds in my book, The Anchor, as I analyzed the seasons of my life. Transparently, my personal house was not always built on rock, and it is only by God’s grace that it stood many of the winds. Grace like this compels one to follow. Today, the house is on a solid foundation to cling to when the winds rage. It is not I that can withstand the winds but the One I cling to when they rage. I decrease, and He increases.

The scripture above was read at my wedding, with the house being a picture of our marriage. We wanted our house built solidly on the rock, and so it was. And, as my wife and I have found, the wind comes often in a marriage. If there was not a common foundation built on the rock, the wind would have blown the house away a long time ago. My wife and I have this foundation to hold onto whenever the winds rage. We are one built on a rock.

The winds come personally and in a marriage, but the speed seems to pick up as a family grows. The wind is sustained, constantly blowing. More children, more wind. Rooms can easily begin to crumble without a good foundation of the family unit. The Bible talks often about teaching children. In our culture today, truth is taught as being relative, so the foundation is as critical as it has ever been in my life. The foundation on rock is the only thing that will sustain the high winds. A family must cling to the foundation.

So, how does one build a foundation on rock? Jesus tells us clearly in the above verses, hear his words and obey. His words are found in the Bible, and I encourage you to dig in today. Read for yourself not allowing culture to twist your idea of what he says. Build your foundation on the rock of his words and cling to it as the winds rage.

There has been no greater gift than the instructional manual for how to build my life, my marriage, and my family on the foundation of rock that sustains high winds. The winds are increasing, and there is only one foundation that will stand.

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