Jesus told a parable about two builders. One He referred to as foolish because he built his house on sand or with an unstable foundation. Jesus calls the other builder wise because he built his house on the stable foundation of stone. The wisdom or lack of it is not evident during the building of the houses but rather when the time of testing comes. Jesus said, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house”; the house built on the sand “fell with a great crash”, while the one built on the stone “did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Many of us have made an error in our lives, we have believed that the severity of the storm determines whether we stand or fall when the reality is, it is not the storm that conquers us, rather it is the quality of our foundation that determines our ability to endure difficulty.
The given in Jesus’ story is that there will be a storm. Sometimes I fear that we are looking for God to give us opportunities or strategies to avoid difficulty when I don’t believe the Bible teaches this to be true. We live in a fallen world that is still ruled by sin and Satan. While Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection have given us freedom from sin and have conquered the grave the world we live in is still ravaged by the consequences of sin. There is still an enemy that “roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” We have power over sin but we are not exempt from sins effects. Psalm 34:19 says “The righteous person will have many troubles, but the LORD comes to rescue him each time.” Jesus Himself told the disciples, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our focus cannot be the avoidance of difficulty but rather, it must be on building a foundation that withstands difficulty.
The book of Hebrews is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I especially love chapter 12, Jesus’ joyful endurance of the cross, God’s loving discipline and then a contrast of Mt. Sinai (the Law) and Mt. Zion (salvation by grace). As chapter 12 begins to come to a close the author quotes Haggai, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” He goes on to write that God shakes all the created things “so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” The shaking is like the storms of Jesus’ parable, they are the given, the guarantee, we all must endure the shaking because it is going to happen. But the shaking is different from the storms. The shaking is by God, it is His hands, His movement and it follows His purpose. We cannot become people that fear or dread the shaking, we cannot be people that look for ways to avoid the shaking, instead we must become those that understand why God shakes, that trusts Him in the midst of the shaking and then thanks Him for the outcome.
I believe that Hebrews 12:28 tells us clearly why God must shake our lives, “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken”. God shakes our lives so that everything that is unstable will fall off. He comes and tests us, He comes and tries us, He comes and shows us that there have been things that we have invited in, that we have drawn close to and that we have given our hearts toward that are not best for us, that are not useful to God and that actually are the cause of instability in our lives. Many of us are like the builder that built on the sand. As long as the condition are just right, as long as we are in control, as long as our lives are what we want them to be then we are solid, secure and even look stable. Yet, the moment things are less than ideal, the moment the wind picks up and the rain falls hard we quickly begin to lose strength, even shape and quickly start to crumble. Again, this is not about the storm, it is all about our foundation. Sometimes, if the foundation is broken the building must be torn down and started over, this time building on what is strong and secure.
I write this today because there is shaking all around us. Many of us are in situations in which things are moving and not exactly as we had hoped or planned. Things that we were sure of are now unsure, things that we had hoped for are now farther off than ever before and things we have held onto tightly are shaking right out of our hands. To try to be a bit specific, some are dealing with issues of health, with job issues, financial strains and relational stress. Your ability to withstand is not about the storm today, or the shaking, it is all about your foundation. Some of the things we are afraid of losing we actually need to let go of, some of the things that we thought were our strength are actually causing our instability. I encourage you today, spend one day praying and don’t ask God to change your situation or to stop the shaking that is going on in your life, rather, ask God to do whatever He needs to do to make you strong. Trust Him enough to know that He will never leave you forsaken or broken but understand that sometimes He has to break us so that He can mend us stronger and more secure than ever before. The outcome of God’s shaking is to put your in a position of strength, faith, hope and security. He is giving us a kingdom, giving us a promise, giving us lives that cannot be shaken, but He does it by shaking us until all the excess rings out. This season may be difficult, it may cause you to reevaluate everything you have known, believed, trusted and hoped for. This shaking may seem to be breaking you and the storms may seem to be more than your foundation can bear but I will share with you a promise from the author of Romans, “hope does not disappoint.” You will not only endure you will overcome; you will not only make it through you will be more than a conqueror; you will not merely finish the race you will receive the crown of life. God’s shaking will not destroy you it will strengthen you, hold tightly to Him and let everything else fall away and when He is finished, you will have a foundation that is “steadfast and immovable”, a faith that is capable of moving mountains and a peace that brings quiet in the midst of life’s greatest storms.