“…yet it did not fall because it had

its foundation on the rock.”

Matthew 7:25

Jesus was teaching the crowds and they were amazed at the things He said. He ends with the teaching about the wise and foolish builders and a call to build their life on a firm foundation. He says that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on rock. And everyone who hear His words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

When we built our house, we laid a concrete foundation but the soil was sandy. Plus the road was positioned in such a way that when it rained, it ran down our front yard. On top of that, we built next to a hill. We noticed that when it rained, the ground was washing down the hill. The hill was getting closer and closer to our house. My husband tried to redirect the water to go a different direction but it continued to wash away the ground right next to our house. One day when it was raining particularly hard, my husband was outside digging a trench. Soon afterwards, we put in a drain to take the water down the hill. Eventually, the road was re-graded and now the water doesn’t run down our front yard. What if we hadn’t built our house on a firm foundation, but directly on the sand? When the rain came, instead of it just washing the ground away next to our house, it would have been washing away the ground under the house. That would have been pretty foolish and I’m sure we would have lost our house. I don’t think anyone does that! But when it comes to how we live our life, it’s not as cut and dried.

Our foundation has to be built on Jesus (1 Cor. 3:11). He is our Rock. So that when the rain of disappointment or financial struggle or disagreement or illness comes along, our foundation is solid. I have to keep coming back to this because it is so easy to get caught up in this life and what is happening and how I feel. Those things are real, but without Christ as my foundation, it can start to feel like sinking sand. It can seem like my world is falling apart or like I’m not doing enough or even that I’m not enough. There really is a difference between when I am building my life on Jesus and when I am trying to do it on my own!

When we have a prodigal or more in our life, having Christ as our foundation makes all the difference. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it does mean we can live victorious lives; it means we can rest and let Him do the work; it means we can have a confidence that God loves them and is not giving up on them. We will know that our prayers are making a difference. So keep going back to Jesus. He is your firm foundation, the rock on which you stand!