“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27

If you grew up in Sunday School, you might remember the words to this song. You might even remember the accompanying actions as the house on the sandy land smashed.

I would never have imagined as a child how true those words would be for me as an adult!

I thought I knew who Jesus was. I thought I knew how this Christian life should be lived. But when hard times came, they exposed my faulty belief system. Without realizing it, I had built my life on shallow theology that could not sustain me when the storm hit.

Adversity can be a gift! Particularly when God uses it to expose our wrong beliefs and replaces it with truth. Sadly, it often takes a multitude of trouble before we begin the process of searching our foundation for cracks. Rain from above, floods from below, wind on every side - we must be met with unbearable conditions before our sandy foundation is exposed.

The collapse is undeniable. The wreckage unavoidable for ‘great is the fall of it’. We are left exposed, hurt, and confused.

Rebuilding takes time and humility. We must be willing to let go of what we thought we knew, dig deep into the Word of God, and allow Him to open our eyes to the lies we unknowingly embraced.

When your life crashes around you, use it as an opportunity to rebuild on a Firm Foundation that will stand the test of time. Then you can truly say, ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.” Psalms 18:2