Christ’s last words in the Sermon on the Mount are a storm warning! The final four verses (Matthew 7:24-27) teach that these storms will be powerful and that they cannot be avoided. They are on the way.
So, the question is not how to avoid the storm, but how to remain secure when the storm strikes. This much is certain: the storms will come. Jesus is talking about more than physical dwellings. He is talking about your life. The same things – the rains, the rising streams, the winds will attack each house with equal fury. Don’t be fooled. The security of the house rests not upon the elaborateness and beauty of its construction, but upon the solidness of its foundation.
In the Proverbs the wise are those who fear God. The foolish are those who live as if there is no God. The wise builder’s house does not fall in the storm. The house of the foolish builder will fall with a great crash.
You cannot determine God’s faithfulness by the circumstances of your life. You determine God’s faithfulness by the content of his character displayed in his word. God says he will never leave us or forsake us. Easy to say on a sunny day. But this is just as true when the storms rage. Sunny, calm days are no more a sign of God’s faithfulness than the days that are stormy.
Regardless of what is going on around you, your hope is in God (Psalm 62:5-8):
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Perhaps you are living in the middle of a furious storm right now. Relationships bring pain rather than peace. Maybe you are recovering from a devastating storm that has past or maybe you are living in fear of the storm that is coming.
Whatever the case, God’s covenant love is steadfast. Your foundation is sure even though the storm rages around you. God is your rock, your strength and your peace forever.