So Very Foundational!

Some years ago, when we were looking at the possibility of buying our first house, we toured a house in a community near ours.  It was one of the oldest houses in the community and the price was in our price range.  But it had a big draw back; some particularly difficult and expensive repairs would need to be done by the buyer.

The house had been built on some land that had been cleared of some big trees.  Instead of building a foundation of rock, brick or cement, the builders chose to use the stumps of the cleared trees as the foundation.   

You might already suspect what happened over the years!  As the stumps began to decay and crumble, parts of the house began to sink.  Floors slanted.  Walls went out of plumb.  Ceilings cracked.   

The difficult and expensive repairs would include raising the house in order to put a new foundation under it.  Once that was done, then the house would go through a process of leveling.  Once leveled, then all the cracks and gaps in the house would need to be repaired. 

It was, of course, a reminder of the need to build on the right foundation.

As we now face the implications and fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic, that house we toured speaks ever so vividly and appropriately to my heart regarding the types of foundations we build our lives upon.

The Scriptures paint a clear picture in that regard:  “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed - it was utterly destroyed!”  (Mathew 7:24-27)

If a foundation has been built on economic security, that of regular paychecks or investment portfolios or retirement accounts or health insurance, cracks are starting to appear.  In many cases, those foundations are actually crumbling right before our very eyes!

Even the current need for social distancing is starting to wreak havoc if the foundation we built upon is made of social status and social influence.

I normally try to keep my posts short but please indulge me as I think more needs to be shared this time from the Word of God:

“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”  (1 Cor 3:10-15)

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”  (Heb 11:8-10)

Aside from the encouragement and the challenge to build on the right foundations, in all honesty I would also say that I need the Lord to raise me up in order to put in a new and better foundation for my life.  I also need Him to come and level my life because it has become slanted and cracks are showing.

I would also add, for the record, that He is able to do those things and He is faithful to do them.  So I continue on with the Word of God as a reminder to myself and as an encouragement to you…

“He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes - he bestows on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord - he placed the world on them.”  (1 Sam 2:8) 

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord, says: “Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic.”  (Isa 28:16)

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”  (Eph 2:19-22)

“However, God’s solid foundation remains standing, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’”…  (2 Tim 2:19a)