PARSON TO PERSON: Build on the Rock

'The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock”

'Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” Matthew 7:24.

I was attending a live webinar dealing with the topic of grief a few weeks ago when the presenter made a statement that I had to think about for a while. The presenter was talking about various reactions to loss and the many theories about grief when she made the statement that, 'When you suffer loss your worldview naturally collapses.” I wrestled with that statement and the longer I wrestled with it the more I had to respectfully disagree.

Our worldview is our set of core beliefs and convictions that form the foundation of our lives. As that foundation our worldview then determines our relationship to the world around us; how we view, respond, make sense of, see ourselves as a part of, and determine how we are going to live in it. I am not in any way taking away from the reality of the pain of grief or denying that a part of grief very well may be periods of anger, doubt, uncertainty, questions, pain, or any number of responses. However, the fundamental question is this: Is my worldview built upon temporary ideals – things I can see, touch, feel, understand, control – or upon eternal truths – things that God has revealed and declared that I then accept by faith?

The above passage continues with: 'and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Storms and trials and loss are going to come in this life, but it does not mean that our worldview, our foundation, will necessarily collapse. Jesus himself tells us in this passage that in fact if our worldview is built upon His revealed truth then it will not, even though it be severely tested. Amid our pain and sorrow and even anger and doubt we can hold fast to His truth and find that it has not been moved.

If our worldview comes from God's revealed truth then it will include believing and acting upon the truth that: there is an eternal God; God has revealed Himself to His creation through creation, the Living Word Jesus Christ, and ultimately through the Written Word of God; God created Adam and Eve for His glory in perfect innocence and placed them in the Garden; man's rebellion against his creator ushered sin into the world with suffering and death as a result; God's love for His creation determined to redeem us from sin and death through the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross, the sinless substitutionary atonement for sin; we are redeemed by His grace through faith with His resurrection being the confident hope of ours; this life then is temporary but eternity is coming where the redeemed will live and reign with Him and share in His glory. With these truths I can, and do, have a foundation that does not collapse, for God has built it upon the Rock.

The song, 'The Wise Man and the Foolish Man,” has always been one of my personal favorites and one I love to sing with kids. The truth behind this song is the important part that according to God's Word our worldview does not have to collapse in the face of life's trials. May our lives be grounded upon the unchanging and unchangeable truth of God and in doing so finding grace, comfort, and peace in our times of need.