“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-24
I can’t remember the movie, but the hero asked his partner several times, “Are you with me or against me?” This is a question that all believers might hear daily. With me…or against me? There are two lingering questions that Haitian school kids in Trinity HOPE schools and you and I have to answer daily: “Is the foundation beneath your life absolutely solid? If it is on Christ, the Rock; it is. If not, it isn’t.” What is your answer?
The Haitian school kids’ lives are experiencing very challenging times and that won’t be changing much in the foreseeable future. What about you? Is the life you are building eternally reliable? Stormy seasons are sure to come, bringing a downpour of difficulties that will test the materials you are using. If your life is solidly and squarely resting on Christ, you will ride out the storm, not fearing the flood. If not, the sand will ultimately give way, your life will collapse, and you will sink.
God’s message to His children all over this fallen world is His love. He does not stand aloof from us, pointing and shouting words of condemnation. No, He brings love and hope. He reaches back to us with open arms, offering His strength in place of our weakness. He desires to help us in our struggles, to rescue us from sinking, and to bring us to safety.
If you are only hearing and reading truth, you are not prepared for life’s season of storms; they’re coming. In this information era it is easy for us to become fascinated by more and more words, AI, interested in intriguing concepts and making the process of gathering data an end in itself rather than acting upon the truth that is presented. His Divine truth is given not to satisfy idle curiosity, but to change lives; not to lull us to sleep in church, but to equip us for today and ready us for eternity.
If your foundation is sure, no storm will cause your life to collapse. The rains of adversity will fall, no question about it; that’s life. The floods of misery and heartache will rise; no one can escape such harsh realities. And the winds of pressure will howl, threatening both your security and your sanity. But the Good News is this: Your life will not collapse. Christ came to be believed in, not simply studied and admired, but to save us from the season of storms and use our lives to bring others into the lifeboat called Hope. A couple of weeks ago we sang the hymn ‘My hope is built on nothing less’ that was written by Edward Mote in 1834. I’ve added it to my ever-growing funeral hymn list.
“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. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in ev’ry high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay