The last nail was hammered into place. Your home is finished. It looks beautiful to you, and you are proud because you made it yourself. You are even more proud because you chose to build your home on solid land. Looking around at your neighbors you see that some of them chose to take the easy way. They did not spend much time on their foundation. Some chose to put their homes on dirt, others chose sand, sand! You shake your head at their choices.
Looking in the sky you see dark clouds. It seems like a storm is on its way. You walk inside your house and build a fire. The storm comes and you feel at peace in your new home. Glancing outside you see your neighbor’s home begins to slant. He chose to build his house on something that was not firm and now he was out trying to fix it, getting soaked. You whisper a quick prayer for him then sit back down in comfort.
A crash of thunder awakens you. You had dozed off. The storm got worse while you were asleep. You go to your window and see that lightning is flashing and the rain is pouring down. Can you really be confident in your handiwork? Will your house stay strong through this storm?
As you ask yourself these questions you look back outside. That’s odd, did you not used to be taller? Looking at the floor you realize that you have begun to sink. How?! Your rock began to turn to sand! How, you do not know but to make matters worse you realize something else. Your house was starting to lean.
With no time to waste, you grab some rope and try to tie your home together. But the sand does not make it easy to move. You try using some of the furniture in your home, you try using spare logs, you try using anything to get your home to stay up. Why had this happened? Had you not planned for any situation?!
Outside your window you see something in the distance. Could it be a boat? Around the boat the sky looked clearer. You see what looks like a person standing at the front of the boat. Suddenly a rush of wind hits you and you hear the words “be still.” What? How can you be still? Your house is beginning to break. You need to fix it quickly before the storm gets worse. Again, the voice comes, “be still.”
Realizing that you probably cannot fix your home anyway, you give it a shot. Letting go of your home, you sit in the middle of it. Your breathing begins to slow down as the storm is around you, as the sand sticks to you. You hear the words “I am with you.” Briefly you open your eyes. No one is there, just the same storm, sand, and broken home.
Closing your eyes again you hear the word, “sing.” Sing?! Now!? That’s crazy. What would singing do? Well, what have you got to lose? The song “Word of God Speak” by MercyMe comes into your head. You begin to sing, “Word of God speak, Would You pour down like rain, Washing my eyes to see, Your majesty, To be still and know, That You're in this place, Please let me stay and rest, In Your holiness, Word of God speak.”
You lose yourself in the song. You realize that you had taken your eyes off of God, you had praised yourself, you had thought that something was more powerful than your creator. Prayerfully you ask for forgiveness. No sooner do you do that than you realize you don’t feel rain anymore. You open your eyes and see that not only is the rain gone, but your house is fixed, and it is back on solid rock!
It was counterintuitive for you to be still and sing, yet in doing that, God helped you! He fixed everything! He was your rock all along!
So, where are you building your house? How can you become stronger in your relationship with God?
