Ready for coming storms?

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

"Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

"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 streams 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 built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Matthew 7:15-29).

As hurrican season begins once again, the news media have been focusing public attention on the risk of losing home and business to storm damage. Many weather forecasters are predicting another active hurricane season, and the public is being warned to prepare. Images of last year's devastation are still fresh in the minds of many people.

Jesus uses this kind of imagery to teach about building wisely. Now, Jesus isn’t speaking of building houses; Jesus is talking about building your life. You know that the most important decision that you can make about building a house is choosing where to build. What kind of soil will give the best support for your building’s foundation? Jesus tells us that we should be even more concerned about what kind of base we build our lives on.

Let’s consider the ‘foolish man’ of Jesus’ illustration. Jesus said that he built his house on sand. What is this sand that Jesus talks about? Basically, people try to build their lives on three different kinds of sand. One popular kind of sand is the sand of false religion. This sand teaches different ways to find God and earn His favor. Some false religions teach that god is impressed by sacrifice; if you give up worldly pleasures like fancy food, sex, or the things that money can buy, god will be impressed by your devotion to him and will let you into paradise when you die. A variation on this is being willing to lose your life in a suicide attack, in order to impress god with your dedication to his goal of ridding the earth of the ungodly. Some even teach that if you live an exemplary life, you can eventually ascend to be a god yourself, in a future life.

Another popular kind of sand teaches that no one can really know who God is, or if He even really exists. But it doesn’t matter if God is real or not, because happiness can be found in other people. Love is all you need to be happy, and if love leaves a relationship, dump that relationship and find a new one. It doesn’t matter if sexual activity is part of marriage or not. Nor does the gender of your partner matter. It doesn’t even matter how many intimate relationships you juggle at the same time—the important thing is to find someone who will make you happy. A variation on this theme is the importance of having money, because money can buy good looks, fancy cars, and anything else that’s needed to attract a potential love partner.

A third kind of sand teaches that there is no God, so happiness must be found in the way that you live your life. You can be happy if you set goals for yourself and then achieve them, because you are proving that you are in charge of your life. Or you can be happy if you free yourself from all guilt and just be the kind of person that you want to be, regardless of rules or the feelings of others. A variation on this theme is recognizing that the world is an ugly, painful place, and that the best way to be happy is to escape the world through getting high or getting drunk—or if all else fails, by committing suicide.

What does it mean to build on these kinds of sand? Well, if you were reading carefully, you might have noticed a common theme: ME. How can I please god? How can I find love? How can I free myself from the aggravations of life that make me unhappy? The sand that Jesus warns us against building on is the sand called ME—my efforts, my wisdom, my feelings.

Jesus warns us about building on sand, because we face storms as we live our lives. We face illnesses and accidents. We face broken relationships and people who decide to hate us. We face people who try to use us for their own ends and then discard us when they’re through with us. We face poor harvests and job layoffs. We face our own inability to keep our promises and to meet our goals. We face the deaths of those we love, and we face the inevitability of our own approaching death. These are storms that can destroy a life, just as a hurricane can destroy a house. If a person has built his life on the sand of human strength and human wisdom, storms like these will tear his life apart and leave him with nothing but despair. The truth that such a person does not want to face is terrifying—no one is really in control of their life.

Thankfully, there is an alternative. Jesus said, 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 streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. The rock that Jesus speaks of is He Himself! In Psalm 95 we read, "Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation." Jesus compares Himself to a rock, because a rock is strong, dependable, and unchanging—a perfect description of our Lord and Savior. Our Lord Jesus is strong—He is so strong that He could endure the damnation that our sins had earned while He hung on the cross of Calvary. Jesus was strong for us, because His love for us is strong—so strong that He would do anything, even die, rather than see us helplessly claimed by the Devil to be Satan’s playthings. Our Lord Jesus is dependable—we can depend on Him to forgive our sins, and we can depend on Him to love us. We can depend on Jesus to answer our prayers and to take care of our every need. We can depend on Jesus to bring a silver lining out of every dark cloud in our lives. Paul writes, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). And our Lord Jesus is unchanging—He has always loved us, and He will always love us. Jesus is, indeed, the Rock of our Salvation.

How do we build on this Rock? Read again Jesus’ words: 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. To build on the Rock, we must first listen to Jesus’ words. This is absolutely critical, because Paul tells us "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). To get faith, we must listen to the Word of God. Then, when we have faith, we have the righteousness of God that can only be found in Jesus: Paul writes, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Romans 3:22). We don’t become righteous ourselves; it is Jesus who shares His righteousness with us. And because Jesus shares His righteousness, God finds us worthy of His love and His help. We can begin to build lives that can withstand stormy weather. Jesus enables us to make decisions in the building of our lives that will result in a strong, God-pleasing home. And when we mess up, making bad decisions that threaten to cause our lives to fall apart, Jesus brings us the promise of forgiveness and the opportunity to start over again. Paul writes, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16).

What a difference this makes in our lives! When bad weather comes, we are prepared for it. This is not to say that the storms of life will not cause some damage. We may lose some shingles, or have a window broken or a shutter loosened. We may cry tears of grief at the loss of a friend, or growl in pain at the hurt of betrayal, or toss and turn in our beds as we struggle with illness. The Devil, the world, and our flesh give us just as much grief as they do to those who foolishly built on sand. But even if life deals us some damage, our house does not collapse, our life does not fall apart. With Jesus’ help, we have built our lives on the Sure Foundation, the Rock of our Salvation. When we are weak, we know that God will give us ways to serve Him that don’t require our strength, only His. When we are betrayed, we know that God will help us to forgive, just as He has forgiven us. When we lose a loved one to death, we have the assurance that we will be reunited one day in heaven, standing together with our Savior. When we build on the Rock we can sleep securely at night, knowing that nothing can destroy our lives.

This is the difference between the foolish man and the wise man. The foolish man builds his life on the teachings and promises of the Devil, the world, and his own flawed wisdom. When the winds of earthly troubles begin to blow, the foolish man cannot rest peacefully because he fears that everything he has accomplished will fall apart around him. But the wise man builds his life on the teachings and promises of Jesus alone. When the lightning begins to flicker in the distant night sky and the echoes of thunder reach his ears, the wise man can rest securely knowing by faith that his life is built upon a sure foundation, and that Jesus will never let him fall.