My House Is Still Standing

Matthew 7:25
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

One of the most vulnerable feelings is being in your house when there is a terrible storm outside. It’s a mixture of security and anxiety at the same time. You hear the winds and the rain, you hear the thunder roll and see the lighting flash all the while wondering if your house will be able to stand against the storm.

Last night, we lost our power about midnight as the storm was raging against our house. We heard the wind beating against the house and we scrambled in the darkness to get our children downstairs just in case the tornado sirens we heard were accurate. After I made sure our mothers were safe in their rooms and the boys were asleep in our room, I prayed and slept in shifts. You don’t really sleep through a storm but you do your best.

Even though we still don’t have power, I’m glad to say my house is still standing and my family is doing fine. Not everybody can say that. There have been so many people that have been devastated by tornadoes and floods this year. To be able to wake up in your house is a blessing. We’ve all been through some kind of storm and we can thank God that our house is still standing. The old folks used to say that this old building keeps on leaking and my soul has got to move. They were referring to their bodies as their earthly house. Eventhough our literal houses may have been destroyed or foreclosed, we still have our earthly house that has been kept during the time of storm.

The thing that keeps a house in the time of storm is the foundation. Jesus said that when we hear the word of God and act on it, it’s like building your house on a firm foundation. When a house is built on a firm foundation it can withstand the strongest storms. If God’s word is not our foundation, we will not make it through the storms in life. There was a song that said it best, “On Jesus Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” We have to make sure we lay a solid foundation in our marriages, our business, our lives, and our ministry in order to make it through your storms.

This is how you set your foundation:

1. Make sure you level the ground. Before a foundation is laid the contractors have to get equipment to level out the place. The ground has to be prepared. That may mean removing things that don’t belong there. Digging out dirt so you can replace it with that which is going to hold you. You can’t pour until the ground is level. Quit trying to pour on unlevel ground.

2. You need some tension cables. These cables strengthen the concrete. These are the ties that bind. There needs to be something inside the concrete that holds it together. These are the values in a relationship or an organization. There have to be some shared beliefs. Jesus said, “where two or three are touching or agreeing there I will be in the midst.” When we touch and agree we keep the foundation from cracking.

3. You have to pour the concrete. This is the word of God that you pour into the relationship. It’s not only the spoken word of God but it’s also the word that you put into practice. Grass withers, flowers fade, but the word of our Lord stands forever. Keeping pouring word in your foundation.

4. The Cement has to cure. The word needs time to solidify in the life of a person, relationship, organization before you start building on it. Don’t be in a rush to build on something new and the cement hasn’t been cured. Just because somebody looks good doesn’t mean they are cured. Make sure it’s cured before you build on it.

Dear God,

Thank you for keeping me through my storms. You’ve been building my foundation for years. People see my Glory but don’t understand my story. All of the hardships, the studying and the trials went into the mixture of my foundation. What’s been keeping me is the mix of the good and the bad that went into my foundation. Your word is the cement that has solidified me into a mature believer. The successes you’ve allowed me to see are the walls to my house. The storms come to test and see what kind of material I’ve been using over the years to add on to my house. The only thing that has kept me is the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Thank you that my house, my family, my ministry, my life are still standing because of the work you’ve done in me. Thank you that my house is still standing.

In Jesus Name,

Amen