Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Oregon Coast. One can enjoy stunning views driving along Oregon’s Highway 101. We always make Canon Beach one of our stops along that route. If Canon Beach is known for one thing, it is Haystack Rock. Giant and rising out of the Ocean, it is impressive. People travel great distances to take in the view.
Another attraction of Cannon Beach is its annual sandcastle contest. Teams of builders spend hours and hours crafting exquisite sand sculptures to take people’s breath away. Their creations are quite remarkable, yet they are only temporary. When my family was there last weekend, there were no signs of the sandcastles from the contest. The sand was flat and wet as the waves slid up and down the beach, but Haystock Rock still stood tall, in all her glory.
The ocean waves are relentless and those beautiful, meticulously made sand creations were no match. Storms, winds, and waves beat against both the sandcastles and Haystack. Only one remains. Haystack is made stronger than anything the Pacific can thrown at her. In our lives, trials and tribulations will come. Suffering is an inevitable part of this fallen world. We must prepare ourselves, not only to sing praises with hearts full of joy on the mountaintops. We must also be intentional in preparing our hearts to worship, abide, and persevere in the valleys of life as well.
Let us build ourselves up with Christ in such a way that our soul, our spiritual house, is stronger than whatever comes, relentless as the enemy may be. Let us set our feet upon the rock, who is Christ. Like the old hymn says, “all other ground is sinking sand.”