When the storms of life come
When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. Proverbs 10:25
We used to live very close the Met Office in Exeter. One day I was taken to see the vast computers that work night and day to forecast our weather. The present system was installed in December 2016 and is capable of making over 14,000 trillion arithmetic operations per second. That’s more than 2 million calculations per second for every man, woman and child on the planet.
The Met Office is able to take in 215 billion weather observations from all over the world every day. Their ability to predict the weather is all very impressive, but the storms of life are different. They often come without any warning at all. It might be a road accident, an illness or a death, but suddenly everything is different. Our world has been turned on its head.
Jesus specifically addressed this issue when he told his readers the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-27). One of them constructed his house on rock and the other on sand. When the sun was shining, the houses probably looked identical. But when the rain and wind beat against them, the difference was dramatic. The one built on the rock stood firm, and the one on the sand fell flat. Everything turned on the quality of the foundations.
Jesus’ point was clear. If we want to be prepared for whatever life might throw at us, we need listen to his teaching and follow it. He told this parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which gave the clearest possible instructions on how to ensure that our lives are built firmly and securely on God.
Most of the time, we may be able to get away without firm foundations. Many people go for years without a major trauma in their lives. However, when disaster strikes, there is no hiding. The quality of your foundations is all- important. Let’s make sure that we have lasting foundations which will enable us to stand strong whatever happens.
QUESTION
What are the foundations of your own life?
PRAYER
Loving God, thank you that you make it possible for me to build foundations that will be secure whatever happens. Amen