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By: Rachel Strange

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?”

This scripture points to a hard truth to face. Most of us are guilty of calling Jesus “Lord” and not doing the things He says. At some point, we’ve all looked at the mirror of scripture, often judging the mistakes of the people in those scriptures or in our lives, and then gone off to do our own thing.

But, here’s the encouraging part: there is grace, and there is forgiveness. God is a long suffering God. He doesn’t just put up with our unfaithfulness, He heals us from it. His goodness and mercy pursue us.

Now, back to the hard truth part. The scripture from Luke precedes Jesus explaining that the people who hear His teaching fall into two categories. The one who hears His words and acts on them “...is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundations on the rock” (Luke 6:47-48). Our actions, while never beyond the restoring power of Jesus, lay a foundation in our life. To the person who hears the words of Jesus and doesn’t listen, Jesus says it is like “...a house on ground without foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed” (Luke 6:49).

In our lives, storms come and rivers crash, and the results of those storms in our lives often reveal what our foundations really are. And that can be a hard truth.  That man who built his house on a good foundation, probably had some moments where he experienced stress that the flood was coming. But when all was said and done, the storm didn’t destroy what was built.

So, if the storms knock us down and destroy us, it tells us a truth we might not love. We may not have built the foundation we were hoping for. I don’t know what your story is as you read this. Maybe you’ve come out the other side of something, and it's shown you how far you’ve come, how solid your foundation on the rock is. On the other hand, maybe you are realizing your foundation was on the things of this world rather than the things of Jesus.

Even if you are that person who’s currently looking at a life collapsing by storms, take heart.

Jesus came for this very thing. He is looking to re-pour those foundations. So, take an honest evaluation of where you are, and ask Him to rebuild. Pay attention to when you find yourself saying “Lord, Lord...” but not having actions that line up with your belief. Don’t get into destructive shame about it, but rather, choose corrective conviction. Then ask God to help you build the right foundation, so when the next storm comes, you WILL stand.