The Steady Foundation by Lisa Burkhardt Worley
I have these bar stools situated near my kitchen. They look good, but I put them together over a year ago, and question their stability. We were having an event in our house (pre-Covid) and my husband was out of town so I took care of the assembly myself, even though the task was overwhelming. I was determined to have the new stools for the party! I realize now that I should have hired a handyman or some kind of an expert to put the furniture together because this type of construction is not my gift. Some parts did not go together right. I forced others, but in the end, this over achiever put the chairs together—yes—but to this day I never sit on them because I know the foundation is a little shaky.
This analogy made me think about our spiritual lives and the foundation we’ve laid. In the midst of the continuing Pandemic, and with word that there are new strains of the virus popping up worldwide, is our construction strong enough to endure added turmoil? What are we doing to shore up our spiritual strength on a daily basis?
The answer is that Jesus is our firm foundation. In Luke 6:47-49, Jesus said, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
So what does it look like to build a solid foundation? First of all, we need to give our whole being to the expert builder, instead of trying to do life in our own strength. We have an incomplete skill set without Him. Now, more than ever I wake up in the morning and immediately thank the LORD for another day, acknowledge His all encompassing greatness, then worship Him. I also ask Him to provide the strength I need because it’s not easy right now. I want to be more like Jesus.
How did He treat people?
How did He handle crisis?
What was His primary mission?
The only way we can know this is to study His life in the gospels. And most importantly, I desire to stay connected 24/7, seeing all that is going on through His eyes rather than my own. I want to provide hope to others even when hope seems far removed. We can only be lights in the world if we fill ourselves with the light of Christ.
So on what kind of foundation do you have? Maybe you look good on the outside, but inside the parts are not connecting, creating instability. Is the blueprint your own or are you surrendering to the Master Builder? It’s not too late to pour the slab.
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).