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The Power To Weather The Storms Of Life

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote: “Into each life some rain must fall.” Into every life, sooner or later, the rains descend, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat. For one man, the “house” of his life falls in ruins because of his carelessness in the building of it, while for another, it stands secure because he wisely chose the solid foundation to build his life upon. The difference lies, not in the intensity of the storm (whether physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, etc.), but in the power to withstand the storm’s fury. The power to withstand the storms of life depends upon the spiritual foundation of our life.

In this regard, Jesus said:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).

The house of the wise man withstood the storm, because his “house” (or life) was built upon the spiritual teachings of Jesus (“the Rock“). And who is the wise man? The wise man is one who hears the words of Jesus and does them (Matthew 7:24). Jesus assures us that no matter what storms in our life may arise, obedience to Him is the only sure foundation on which to build our lives – that foundation that will withstand the test of time and the certain judgment to follow (Hebrews 9:27).

We begin building our spiritual foundation upon “the Rock” through our hearing of faith (Romans 10:17; cf. Hebrews 11:6), repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confession (Romans 10:9-10), and baptism into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Gal. 3:26-27). Then, we must continue to build our spiritual “house” (our life) on “the Rock” by continuing to hear and to obey the words of Jesus and His inspired apostles (Ephesians 2:19-22; Matthew 7:24; Colossians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-8).

As the words of the old majestic hymn, “There Stands A Rock” state,

“There stands a Rock on shores of time,
That rears to heav’n its head sublime;
That Rock is cleft, and they are blest
Who find within this cleft a rest:
Some build their hopes on the ever-drifting sand,
Some on their fame or their treasure or their land;
Mine’s on the Rock that forever shall stand,
Jesus, the Rock of Ages.”

Dear reader, is the spiritual foundation of your life built upon “the Rock that forever shall stand?” If not, you’re building on the wrong foundation.