The
tears streamed down her round little face with a look of horror behind her eyes.
I panicked and even though I knew it was futile, I actually decided to try and stand
in the way of the ocean to stop it. You can imagine that went over well as the
waves just swept over me. The white foamy water which she had danced in a
couple hours and a few feet ago was now a force of destruction instead of the
bringer of joy. The mighty and now evil ocean was destroying her castle, her
kingdom.
Bella and daddy had spent the afternoon building a tower of
majesty all afternoon. To the average on looker it would have appeared to only
be a moderately impressive sand castle, but to Bella it was her kingdom. They
had scraped out a moat with their hands and dug windows with their fingers.
Tall peaks graced the top, and Scott had used a stick to make fancy designs.
She danced around laughing and singing…that was until the ocean came.
I didn’t realize she didn’t know that eventually the ocean
was coming. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Horror alighted in Scott and
I’s face as we watched the waves crash over the kingdom, and my little girl’s
face crumple into a river of tears. At once, we promised that we would make her
a new castle tomorrow. A bigger one. A better one. As she balled her little fists up she
exclaimed, “Why? The ocean is just going to come again to eat it!” Then she
stomped off.
Later that evening we showed her pictures we had taken of
her palace and talked about how we couldn’t have taken it with us when we went
home anyway. The fun was in making the castle, and we could start over
tomorrow. Although she grudgingly agreed, she still didn’t want to build
another castle for the rest of that trip. I don’t if any of us had the
emotional stamina for another kingdom being overtaken by the evil Ocean Empire.
Therefore, everyone who
hears these words of mine AND puts them into practice is like a wise man who
built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the stream rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house; yet, it did not fall because it had its
foundation on the rock. BUT everyone who hears these words of mine and does NOT
put them into practice is like a foolish man who build his house on sand. The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the wind blew and beat against the house,
and it fell with a great crash. Matt 7:24-27
Sand is not a good place for building. Even when the ocean
is not attacking, sand grains are irregularly shaped and sharp. When sand is
the foundation, the grains sit there loose with voids in between them. Sand
cannot compact and will never be a piece of solid earth. Being that a
foundations primary function is described as “the natural or prepared ground or
base on which some structure rests,” sand does not make the cut as stable. It’s
too shifting. Too unstable. Too full of hiding voids.
The first thing that jumps out in this scripture is that it
is directed to “everyone who hears these words of mine.” This is addressed to
the church people. The people praising, worshiping, giving the money, teaching
the Sunday school classes, and taking notes in their bibles. The church. It’s
not like you can claim you never knew. Often….so very often…my second graders and
my other children I birthed will say to me “you never told me that. You must be
thinking of another kid. If I would have heard you then I would have done it.”
Ahhhh….selective
hearing of little blessings. One day I am going to develop some selective hearing.
“Oh I didn’t know that you needed that dress cleaned by today? Oh I am sure
that you never told me that. Sorry.” This is one of the moments you are talking
to your friends and say “yep, I just told her I didn’t hear her ask for me to
wash it just like she didn’t hear me ask her to take care of the dogs.” Friends
say “DID you say that?” “No, but I could have!”
We are planted into one of two survivor camps. We all hear
the words, what comes next is what separates us. One had heard the Words of the
Lord and put them into practice. He
was like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The foolish man, the one
who did not put the words of God into practice, was the man with a house built
on sand.
Another commonality in the stories is that both houses are
standing in the same storm. The Word
says “the rain came down, the streams rose, and the wind blew and beat against
the house.” This was a storm from all angles. The rain came from the sky in
streaks of torrent hitting the top. The streams rose and began to batter the
bottom of the structure. As the top and bottom are fighting their own battles,
it says the winds blew and beat against the house.
Jesus loves to tell stories because he knows we are picture
people. We need to see it and figure it out. So he gives us this story.
I picture the rain coming down is from an unresolved sin in
my life. It just keeps pounding and pounding. Keeping me up at night. Almost trying
to dig through the roof to meet me. The stream that rose could be none other
than the strife of debt. A small trickle at first that is now this mighty river
that will sweep you away. Circling around your house in the wind that blew and
beat against the house, battering nonstop, is a failing marriage, a job you
lost, rebellious children, depression, anxiety. It just keeps hitting.
Both builders heard “these words of mine” and both are
experiencing the same storm. Storms are not the “IFS” in life, they are the “WHENS.”
What was the deciding factor? The storm windows, the expensive basement
draining system, the strong wood and metal shoring up the skeleton of the
house. Nope. None of it. It comes back to the beginning.
A
safe house must be built on a secure foundation. The purpose of a foundation is
to hold up and hold together for the structure above it. A foundation of sand can roughly hold
1500-3000 pounds per square feet. Rock can support on average 3000- 12,000
pounds per square feet- 4 times as much. Don’t blame the sand. He never asked
the coach to be put in this game! He just wants to chill by the ocean, have
kids decorate him with toys, castles, and towels. He knows that this isn’t the
place to build. But someone didn’t because they heard the word, BUT didn’t put
it into practice.
The
others who are yet to hear the word are watching. They see two testimonies. Two
houses. After all, both men heard. Both go to church. Both are good people and
treat others with respect. One took the Word of God and lived it. He mediated on
the Word, he looked for ways to bring the kingdom down to earth, and a way to
multiply his talents for his master. He acted upon loving his God and actively looked
for ways to join with the work.
The
second did not. The word was heard. Probably appreciated. Heads nodded and notes
taken. However, he did not put them into practice. He would have had what he
considered valid reasons. His debt is too high, and his time is to short. We
will grow as a family when we have time. I will serve God and look for my place
in His world when I have time. When I have the time and money, I will shore up
this foundation.
The
sky turns dark. There is a heaviness in the air that tells us something is
coming. The wind gentle and refreshing at first and then picks up pace. Soon
the drizzle turns into streaks of stinging rain and the wind is throwing things
in your face. Water surrounds your ankles. You go into your house. The
structure that is supposed to protect you in the storm.
When
was the moment they realized the sand was wasn’t going to hold? Was it the
cracking of the walls and floors as they shifted with their structural
weakness? Was it the shift they felt
under their feet? The foundation won’t hold. It is all coming down, and “it
fell with a great crash.”
Jesus
wasn’t instructing carpentry 101 even though I am certain he is qualified to do
so. He was trying to speak to the people about the foundation of their lives.
What they stood on and for. He gave them, all of them listening, the answer for
survival. Not just how to survive but how to flourish. Hear my words! Put them
into practice. Build on the unshakable foundation of God’s trusted and true
words.
Shifting
and voids. Conditional truths and illusion of beauty. Feelings not vows. Convenience
not sacrifice. My wants, my feelings, my expectations, and eventually my
failures.
The
storm will come. It will bring a hell fury like none you have seen. When you
stand on what you know, what will sustained you? Will it hold against the storm?
After the destruction of this storm passes, will you still be standing on the firm
rock foundation? Or will the ocean of life swept over you claiming your castles
and treasures?
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