Listening to the chirping of birds with the wind blowing on my hair feels so relaxing!The warmth of the sun against my skin is so soothing.Funny.I have had many of such moments last couple of months in different parks.One of those during winter and holding on to a plastic coffee cup for warmth but it doesn’t matter really.I love being out in nature and look out for a park as a consideration when traveling.Hence with a journal and pen at hand this time, its easy to drift away in my thoughts.I call it journeying with God.
Am on a retreat.Had to excuse myself from family being the first time i have taken off after Christmas.God reminded me of a reflection i shared at the beginning of last year at a certain forum and that i titled -Building on the Rock.Oh and didn’t God have something else in mind!More like demolition or so it felt .I have always had plans written down.Some i don’t get to fulfill but i enjoy end of the year ticking in red,green or pink what i did accomplish.Don’t get me wrong as to how serious I am.Some of my plans include,i will travel to a fun place,will not carry work home or i that i will adopt a daily skin care routine before bedtime :-). I will work on my culinary skills to which my mother will always ask for photos of the finished meal just to confirm.So,i smile at what i did accomplish really even if some……..some were elusive.
The Lord reminded me of how He spoke to me about building on the Rock last January.Little did i know that He meant i would have a testing on what i really was made of and on what i had built my life on.The winds did blow and blow hard they did.Did I love God because of what i achieved or who others knew me as? At the end of it all, I stood!God reminded me that the only reason I stood last year was that my life has been anchored on Him and the strength of His word.
Founded on the rock
You see,the strength of a building is based on the foundation put in the first place. In fact whether you are building a bungalow or a storey house or a skyscraper,how high the building will go will depend on the strength of its foundation. How deep is it, for it to go up high above the surface and to hold the weight above?
Mathew 7:24-27
“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:7:25and 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.7:26“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:7:27and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
We learn from the two buildings that both were at some point in time subjected to the rains that descended, the floods that came, and the winds that blew and beat on the houses; because of the foundation, the one on the rock stood but the one built on sand fell.
Will you stand should the winds blow?
Of the much that lies ahead of us, it will help to know that seasons will change.It’s part of nature and God’s does ordain seasons & changes them for us. When we build and DO What the word of God says, what we build in the new year will stand as rains shall come, or if winds blow or should floods come. Be it your job, business, your relationships. Please note that a change in seasons is not necessarily a negative thing.
Work on your foundation.
That reflection and prayer that we make at the beginning of the year or at the end or beginning of any season- be it your birthday, start of a new season like an anniversary, whatever major event in your life.That waiting on God forms a foundation for what follows. End and start a season with God.If you have watched a construction site, the foundation part is the most involving labour wise, that’s when we have the bulldozers breaking rocks and may seem like one is sinking a lot of money that you really can’t see. So be willing to do some work in prayer. If God leads you to take some time to do a fast, consider responding. It’s part of doing the hard work of digging the foundation to reach the rock on which you build.
Wishing you a wonderful 2024 and please journey with us here!
(Mathew 7:24-27, Proverbs 3:5-6)
No Comments