“…the winds blew…and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:27.
Jesus was speaking about the wise and foolish builders. The wise builder built his house on the rock, and the foolish builder built his house on the sand. When the winds blew, only the house built on the rock could withstand the storm. For the past two summers, my husband and I have tried to secure our gazebo down to our concrete patio by stacking heavy planters and bricks onto the corners. Nevertheless, strong gusts of wind would catch beneath the nylon canopy and still shift and lift the temporary structure. On several occasions, we had to stand outside and hold the framing down to keep it from blowing away. Up until the other night, this strategy had worked even though we should have used the tools and time necessary to properly secure the framing to the concrete foundation.
The other night the wind picked up outside our house and finally blew our gazebo over. We were inside and did not even realize the storm had hit. When my husband opened the back door to let our cat in, there was nothing covering our patio. A quick scan of our backyard revealed the bent and broken aluminum framing twisted inside the nylon netting against our fence. There was no way to save it.
As I read Matthew, Chapter 7 the next morning, I was sitting at the table on my back patio; my back facing the eventual chore of untwisting and disassembling the mess on the other side of the yard. Those words reminded me of how foolish my husband and I were to think our temporary shelter would withstand the storm. The thing is, the winds will blow in this life and we can try to deter them by make-shifting an appearance of being on solid ground. However, when the winds come unexpectedly our temporary cover will only protect us from the storm for so long. Eventually, the gusts will grow stronger and because our shelter is not grounded in the foundation—securely bolted and tied down—the protection that involved previously relying on our own strength, is suddenly gone.
Why do we try to fake security with God when we are really only holding on with our own strength during times of trouble? Why don’t we realize that being secure in Him is the only thing that will save us from the storm, whether or not we see it coming? We must learn to let our man-made shelters go, and permanently secure ourselves to the One who can truly save and protect us– no matter what!