The Floods Are Gonna Come

Have you ever heard the parable from the Bible about a house built on sand and another house built on a rock? I’ve heard it many times over the years, starting in Sunday school. As a teen, it was pitched my way whenever my mom wanted to make a point about what I was doing in life… it didn’t work well on a rebellious 18-year-old.

Since that time I have literally lived out that analogy. I have owned a home in Florida and another one on a mountaintop in North Carolina. One house is built on a bunch of sand, while the other has a concrete foundation—poured and pinned into a rock bed.

I have asked builders in Florida (more than once) if they’re really sure it’s such a good idea to set a house on sand, you know, the stuff that squishes under your feet when you’re walking on the beach… They assure me there really is no problem; it’s been done for years, so I have nothing to worry about. I’m still not so sure. What I am sure of is that a mountain home that is tied into a rock ain’t goin’ nowhere, no matter what comes its way.

The parable goes on to state that the house built on the rock will stand in a flood and the one on sand, well, it won’t. This isn’t really about houses; it’s about life, and what you build your life upon. You set your life on a foundation—whether intentionally or not. What is the foundation of your life? What do you put your trust in? Possessions? Friends? A job? Your home? Family?

I’m telling you this—the floods will come.

Anyone who says differently is just flat out lying. Life is indeed hard; no one escapes the tough times this world offers. Life has seasons just as a calendar year does. Changes in each of these seasons are inevitable, some come by choice, others through circumstance.

They may be financial, a spouse who’s unfaithful, cancer, changing a job, losing someone you love, or moving to a new city. They could be quick and shallow or near drowning-level. Whatever the change may be—the floods will follow. How you withstand the rushing water that overtakes you is determined by the foundation you’ve chosen.

When you build upon the strength of the rock, it holds firm, keeping you in place and doing the work for you. If you build on sand, you’ll find no allegiance from the particles under your feet as the water rushes in. They’ll abandon you with each crashing wave.

Having lived through more life floods than I can even remember, I am truly thankful that I’ve built my life on the firmest foundation possible. One that holds on even when I am bumped, bruised, exhausted and spent, holding me before the flood hits and remaining strong while the flood recedes. That anchor is the One this parable is about. That anchor is my relationship with a loving, faithful God… Jesus. On His instruction, compassion, and constant companionship. Even when I may not feel it, I know He is there.

If you want to make it through the inevitable floods, don’t anchor your life on anything less. It won’t hold onto you. It might keep your nose above water, but it will never withstand all that comes your way. There is nothing else that has the strength and staying power of a rock, and my rock is Christ.

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. (New Living Translation, Matthew 7:24-25).