Building a life that will last

Years ago, while we lived in Tulsa, Ok., I had the priviledge of watching the building of a 50 story building. They dug a deep hole in the earth. I would watch each week as I went by the site to see their progress. It seemed that it took forever before they got to ground level. They literally worked for about a year below the ground. I have the sense that building 50 stories of the building was quicker than the work to dig the foundation. By the way, I have been on the 50th story of that building having lunch on a very stormy day. The winds were blowing 50-70 miles per hour as we sat near the windows enjoying our lunch. I looked up and saw the lights in the room swaying as the wind blew the building, but I really didn't feel any movement. The foundation made it possible for the building to weather a storm, and not be damaged.

How's your foundation? We live in a culture that's more interested in visible growth than in foundation building. I think Jesus would have frowned on how the church looks today. Most people I meet have great "buildings", but no foundation...any little storm nearly tips them over in their faith.

What does foundation work look like? It's sure isn't pretty. It's not easy. It takes time. It's messy. I had a friend who bought a large home built in the early 1920's. It didn't have a crack anywhere in the house! He told me they took a year to build the foundation. Not a year to construct, but when they had finished the foundation they let it sit for the rest of that year....no construction, no work to be seen. But when they started building they had a foundation that could weather the storm. What does foundation work look like? It's getting to know God, getting to know who he is, spending time wth him through his word and prayer. It's not getting to know "stuff"...that will come later. It's getting to know HIM...that's foundation building. Seeking his face...knowing he father.

Cracks only show up in houses that don't have good foundations, like our poor little house, full of cracks. We can fix the cracks, but they will return, because we have to fix the foundation first.

The cracks are just signs that something is wrong somewhere else....foundation problems.

In our lives the "cracks" are simply signs of foundation problems. They are signs of our need for a more intimate relationship with God.

Here are two passages that give direction to those of us who need foundation work-

Psa 27:8 When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek."
Psa 27:9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!
Psa 27:10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up.
Psa 27:11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes.
Psa 27:12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
Psa 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
Psa 27:14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Mat 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Mat 7:25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Mat 7:26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Mat 7:27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Foundation work is a muddy business, and shows little results for a long time, but you will have great joy with the results, and you will know the Father! The "cracks" of life wouldn't dare come near a life like that!