Sand and the Rock

One night, while in Brazil, Gary Livermon, father to my friends Adam and Brad, preached a sermon about the parable of the sand and the rock. He made an interesting point. He noted that each the men who build their houses had good intentions. Both loved their families. Both put a lot of blood sweat and tears into their houses. But only one had fruitful remains after the storms blew through. It was because of the material it was based upon. When the storms blow through our lives,- the pink slip, the affair, the test results coming back positive,- where is our foundation?

I kept these ideas in my head as I went through out the week in Brazil. And I took special notice of circumstances around me. See, most of the time when I read this parable I think of sand, and a little rock. And I always think, "I'm a christian, I'm upon the rock." But do I always act like it?

This week, I thought of it in a different way. We went to visit a place called Sugar Loaf. It's really just a huge rock jutting out of the coast line. They've built a cable car system to carry you up to the top. The view is breath taking, you can see for miles and miles. But the thing that stood out the most was that I was standing on a giant rock. I mean it was huge! 100 storms wouldn't even make a dent in this thing. The Brazilians are so confident of this fact, they built a gift shop on top and charge people a lot of money for post cards and Sugar Loaf underwear.

However a few days later, we took a trip to the beach. Again, breathtaking, but this time, as I stood at the shore line, I observed the fickleness of sand. At first it seems firm and comforting, but with the first wave, the sand from beneath my feet was gone. I had to find a new spot, or risk sinking lower and lower. When I did finally decide to stand still, not only was the sand beneath me swept away, but the next wave pushed sand upon the top of my feet, burrying them. It was constant striving just to stay on level ground.

So I've been reflecting upon these two idea in light of my fund raising to return to Swaziland. To say it's overwhelming at times would be an understatement. But I realized that while I claim that my faith in my return is built upon a rock (which it is) I act like it's on shifting sand. One little storm and I get all in a tizzy, striving striving, trying just to stay in one spot. I don't think God wants me to be that way. He wants me to understand that I am on a rock in His promise. I can stand in His will, as if it were Sugar Loaf,- stable, strong, and able to withstand 100 storms.