I, like so many others, do not know what to say in a moment of crisis. We quote Bible verses, sing songs, give books, tell of personal experiences, etc. We want to fix things. We are problem solvers. None of these are bad things, but I know all of the Bible verses and I know all of the songs. Yet, there were moments when I simply didn’t have the words to pray or the strength to read the Bible.
In the moments I was grateful for the Biblical foundation that was laid at a very early age. I was grateful to every Sunday school teacher, every youth worker, every pastor, every single person who had poured into my life. When I was in the strongest storm of my life, I was standing on a rock solid foundation. My foundation was not built during the storm. It was being laid long before the storm.
One day, I was telling my three girls how I wanted them to each buy a house and I will divide my time between them. I was jokingly planning their future. I told my youngest that she could buy a house on the beach. She immediately said “No way!” Why would you not want to buy a house on the beach? You love the beach! With a very serious face, she replied “Don’t you know that only fools build a house on the sand?” She took the scripture very literal.
Over the past year, I have re-evaluated my number one priority–my daughters. I have examined if I am laying a sandy foundation filled with lots of activities and busyness that will shift when the future storms of life come. Now I am even more intentional about building a solid foundation based on the Word about God’s character, His power, His intimacy, and His truth.
In October of 2024, I repeated the same words that I spoke in October 2023. I told my girls “We have only two choices–either we trust God with everything or we don’t trust Him at all.” One of my girls rolled her eyes and said “This is what you told us in January, February, March….”
Does building a foundation mean our lives look perfect as we sit around the dinner table, reading our Bibles, and singing worship songs? Oh my goodness–No Way! Sometimes it looks more like telling a teenage daughter that I am praying her food taste bad, her bed is hard, and God will convict her like no other.
The other night we were having a family devotion. (Roar Like a Lion by Levi Lusko–Thank You Chastity) Our conversation went like this:
Me: The title of the devotion is “Be Like Barnabas“. Who was Barnabas?
My Daughter with 100% Confidence: A Dinosaur!
Me: What?
My Daughter looking at me like I am dumb: Remember? Barney the Purple Dinosaur!
These Sunday school teachers really need to step it up.
“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
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