Solid Ground

My husband and I live in an old farm house that was a one-room school building in the 1890’s. The house is not built on a slab foundation, but sits on very large tree stumps. 

The school was turned into a house in the 1930’s and then more rooms were added during the next 20 years.

Over the years, the stumps have sunk into the ground. The crawl space below the house is not big enough for any larger than a skunk. We did discover that it was big enough for a skunk when she moved in to build her nest and have her babies. But that is a story for another time.

Because of how the house is built, when it rains, the house settles. And when there is draught for months, the house settles. That means that with Texas weather, the house is constantly shifting.  When it settles, doors will not lock, walls crack, floor tiles separate, along with other challenging situations which all require constant maintenance and repair.

Our lives can be like that. When we are not built on solid rock, our lives will shift and form cracks. Doors can remain open to our hearts for things other than Truth to enter.

So, how do we know what is a solid foundation, worthy of building our lives upon?

Scriptures tell us that life should be built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. The promise is that then, when the storms come, we will stand. Building on Him as a foundation means that we live trusting in His unlimited and unconditional love for us, His death on the cross for our sin, and for His provision of eternal life. These blessings come only through faith in Him.

Because God is love (1 John 4:8 ), everything He does flows out of His heart of love for us, His creation. We were created to be in close personal relationship with Him. He desires that, and has made a way for it to be possible.

So, in the spiritual world, what is considered “sinking sand,” or ground that is not solid?

When we do things man’s way, our own way, we shift and change. When we try to earn love, earn favor and earn eternal life, we sink deeper and deeper. Salvation is not something we can earn. We cannot be “good enough” to enter heaven.  Heaven is what we call eternal life in God’s presence.

We cannot earn what is given freely. Because God knew man could not be “good enough” to earn eternal life with Him, God came in the form of man and gave His life to pay the price for sin and selfishness that we could not pay.

God’s grace and mercy are absolutely free, but, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in his book The Cost of Discipleship, grace is not cheap. God’s gift of eternal life requires a response from us. We must accept His free gift. That takes humility. We must accept the fact that we cannot acquire eternal life through good works or doing things our own ways; it comes only God's way. When we accept that God knows alll things, and we do not, then we ask Him to come into our lives, to guide us, and to give us what He knows we need. And He does. We then freely receive from Him what He died in order to give to us.

We must believe God. May people believe “in God.” But we must believe God; we must put our trust in what He says is truth. We must believe what He says and not rely on our own opinion, reasoning, education, or what other people decide. Theories of man can easily rob us of truth. God’s word is Truth. If we believe anything contrary, then we are believing lies which causes us to sink further and further into the unstable ground.

God’s word is truth. Jesus Christ is called “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6.) He wants us to know Him; He wants us to know how to live with Him for eternity. He desires to bless our lives abundantly here on this earth, as well as in eternity. If we seek Him, He promises that we will find Him.

Rather than continuing to build our lives, our ideas, and our perspective on things that shift and change, things that cause fear, doubt, anxiety and worry, we can put our trust in the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Let us lay hold of that which is absolute truth and which will not change. Let us stand firm, trusting Him, and living a life of peace, contentment and blessing…all that comes when He is allowed to guide our lives. Then our lives are built on solid rock and we will not be moved, no matter what the circumstances.