Foundation
These past weeks, it’s been hard to watch the destruction that has occurred through natural and human forces. In some instances, entire communities, once full of life, gone. These are difficult realities to process through and remind us of the uncertainties of this world.
Our shelters or securities built on sand inevitably crumble in the face of a storm. And the storms will come. It’s not a question of if but when. We spend a lot of time building up things in our lives. That’s honorable and good to do. What makes all the difference in the world is the foundation upon which we’re building. Rock or sand? It’s not the structure that makes the difference, it’s the foundation.
My area in Virginia has been blessed with a picturesque week. A blessing I’m thankful to God for. I found myself on the sands of my local beach early Monday and it was a morning that should be bottled up and preserved. The sky was full of color from the sun clocking in for a new day’s work. Oranges, purples, and blues spread across the horizon in a divine mosaic. An original piece of art that will never be recreated. God’s reminder of our daily fresh start. The waves lapping rhythmically and invitingly as if expecting a band to join in.
As I consumed all that my senses would allow, I noticed a jetty covered of seagulls. There must have been a hundred or more sitting atop their rocky perch. They were talking to one another energetically about something I couldn’t understand but I could sense the emotion behind it. Perhaps they were discussing the beauty of the day and the goodness of God. It was chirps of conviction. These were happy birds, content to be who God created them to be. I envied their contentment compared to the myriads of thoughts that encroached my mind.
We experience a life of contentment when the foundation of our life is firm. Jesus is our firm foundation. From our perch on the Rock, we’re able to experience the world around us from a position of assuredness, not on everything, but the one thing. Content to be who God created us to be. People enjoying the pursuit of His kingdom.
In Matthew 6, Jesus is releasing people from the anxieties of this world to go all out in pursuit of His kingdom. Jesus uses the example of a bird to describe the freedom we have in this pursuit.
Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Matthew 6:26
It’s a rhetorical question. We certainly are! In the beauty of life, even in the storm, the Lord provides. The Rock is firm even when everything else is shaking.
I learned a great lesson from the seagulls the other day. Sometimes we have to stop, remember that we’re on the Rock, and take the world in from that assured position. The Rock isn’t going anywhere and it’s wise to do our building on His foundation. Any other foundation is sinking sand.