Even before the drama that is 2020, we lived in a world full of change and uncertainty.

Technological change is one of the most obvious things, especially to someone of my age and above. I remember the oohs and aahs of my classmates over the 4-color graphics in the Lemonade Stand game, the first program with color that was installed on the Apple II+ computers in my high school. I compare that to the stunning graphic realism of some modern games running on my laptop. Of course, the graphics are only possible because my laptop is far more powerful than any supercomputer from my college years. Even my phone is more powerful than those old supercomputers. I also remember when my husband’s boss got one of the early cell phones. It weighed several pounds and all you could do with it was make phone calls.

For someone who works in the computer world, as I do, the technological changes are exciting, but they can also be terrifying, given the realities of cybersecurity. The internet brings amazing opportunities for connectedness and horrific potential for harm.

While technology is first in my thoughts, because of my interests and profession, we would find no lack of other kinds of change in our world. Social change, both good and bad, abounds. Science of every kind progresses, with both intended and unintended consequences. We see economic and political change across the world. The same global interconnectedness that makes it easier to share the gospel to the ends of the earth makes it easier to spread a virus.

Small wonder that we Christians like to sing about our “Solid Rock” and “Firm Foundation,” in older hymns as well as modern worship songs.  

During this time of turmoil, I’ve been thinking about one of the Bible passages that talks about rocks and foundations. This is Jesus talking in the well-known Sermon on the Mount.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27 ESV)

I remember singing a song in Sunday School based on this passage, which seems to go by several different names, all about the wise man whose house stood firm and the foolish man whose house fell. We all loved that last line: “The house on the sand went smash.” There are some versions of the song that go on: “So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,” which is good, but still does not focus on the point Jesus is making here.

I think there are two things we have to take from this passage. The first is that the storms are coming. As Christians, we are sometimes surprised at the problems we face in life. After all, God is on our side, so shouldn’t we be protected from life’s problems? Unfortunately, that just isn’t Biblical. The rain falls, the floods come, and the winds blow the same for both the house on the rock and the house on the sand. 

There are exceptions when Jesus calms storms, but he warns us repeatedly of tribulation and persecution: of the storms of life. With those warnings, he makes a promise, not to take us out of the trouble, but to be with us, to help us stand firm.

The second concept we must focus on is the difference between the one who is like the wise man and the one who is like the foolish man: between the one “who hears these words of mine and does them” and the one “who hears these words of mine and does not do them.” Both hear. One does; one does not do. One obeys; one does not obey.

The storms are on their way, if they are not already in your life. Jesus says the firm foundation comes from hearing what he has said and doing it. While we think that obedience is harder in the midst of the storms, we often fall short during the easy times. We get distracted. We start to believe we can do things on our own. It is through our commitment to Christ and obedience in the calm that we build the firm foundation we need when the world is shaking.

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay