Built to Stand in the Storm
“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
Jesus ends his famous “Sermon on the Mount” by talking about two types of houses built by two different men on two different types of foundations. Both of these houses look the same above the surface. They look strong and sturdy and well-built. But when the winds blow, and the rain falls, and the floods rise, only one will stand.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:24, “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.”
I remember when Hurricane Michael wrecked the Florida panhandle a few years ago. As is the case with so many hurricanes that hit land, the devastation was awful. There was this one image that went viral of a neighborhood right on the beach in Mexico Beach where all of the homes were completely destroyed. In the picture, it’s nothing but flattened debris everywhere… except for one single house. If you zoom into the picture, it looked as if there had been no hurricane at all. The roof was completely in tact. No siding was even missing.
I read an interview with the owner who had just built the house the year before Michael. It was a half a million dollar build, built on concrete pillars high above sea level, with 40 foot pilings into the ground. He said, “We built it for the big one… we just didn’t know it would come so soon.” And it worked! The big one came and went, and in the end, only one house stood. Because it had been built to last.
Jesus’ parable in Matthew 7 is remarkably modern in this way. He is saying you have to build deep in order to stand in the storm. So the question for us is what foundation are we building on? There are only two options. We’re either building on the sinking sand of the world’s values and mixed messages which come and go like the wind. Or we are building on the solid foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only one building will stand.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”