Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  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.” Matthew 7:24-25.

Have you spent much time at the ocean?  I grew up going to the Jersey Shore in the summers.  Before visions of fist-pumping fill your head, that’s not the part we visited.  My family went to beautiful Cape May, New Jersey.  It is a picturesque Victorian town.  I am a strong swimmer and I loved to go out from the shore a ways and jump the waves.  There is such a distinct feeling to sand as you walk on it.  It slides and gives way under your feet.  You sink into it as you wade away from the shore.  Inevitably, when I was jumping waves, I would miss the timing on one and it would toss me back and take me under, my skin being scraped and burned against the sand on the floor.  Once that happened, it would be hard to get up again because another wave would come right after, and then another, and another, it could be quite scary. 

But there were always these rock formations in the ocean, piles of huge rocks just sitting together, and if you could climb up on those, well then the waves were not such a problem.  With your feet planted firmly on the rock, the waves are not so threatening.  Rock doesn’t give way beneath your feet like the sand does, it supports you and steadies you. 

Jesus is our Rock.  He is that sure foundation we can stand on when everything is crashing around us and we don’t know where to turn.  In these uncertain times, when I don’t always know who to lend my ear to or what the best decisions are on a daily basis, I can trust that my footing will always be secure when I am standing in the Lord.  When I am standing on The Rock, I don’t have to hold on to my life with white knuckles trying to preserve it, I can pour myself out as He did in service and love to others.  When I am standing on The Rock, whatever heartache comes my way will affect me, but it won’t destroy me.  When I am standing on The Rock, I am not bowled over by other people’s opinions of me.  When I am standing on The Rock, I know each wave has a purpose for me to cling even more closely to the steady and sure foundation beneath me. 

Jesus is our Rock of Ages.  From the dawn of time, nobody has even been put to shame when they stand firmly in Him.  Whatever the news headlines may be tomorrow, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is steady and true, when all else may seem uncertain and confusing, find your sure footing in Christ.