hurricane rain

i woke this morning at 4am to the sounds of hurricane rain. all these years in atlanta, and, still, i struggle to wrap my brain around the fact that even this far inland ocean storms can impact us so dramatically.

with that first weighty clunk of mysterious debris hard against our bedroom wall, i was wide awake. when things are flying around outside your window in the dark hours of early morning your attention is easily captured. 

coffee in hand and fireplace cranked high i sat down to watch it unfold.

 

nature is something grand and beautiful to behold …  breathtaking … especially with the option to look out from safely within. 

i suppose i’m a strange type of storm-chaser. though i prefer a gentler rain, i still love even the sound of rain coming heavy against the house. it’s more than just feeling cozy with my coffee and fire. no, it’s not a promise of full protection, but an assurance of shelter and a reminder to give thanks for the walls and roof and foundation. 

a reminder to give thanks. 

brick and mortar aren’t everything. they too have chinks and gaps and holes. they too can be brought down hard in a hurricane. 

like all of us. 

all of us with our weak spots and our worn out places. all of us with our host of vulnerabilities and our human fragilities. ultimately, it comes down to our foundation. 

on what have we built our lives?

more importantly, on Whom?

i am reminded this morning of the words of Jesus in matthew 7 —

“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.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”  

i don’t know about you, but my guess is no matter what your weather forecast today you know full well what it means to feel the “blew and beat” of strong winds on your house. 

HOW we build our house and WHERE we build it matters. 

but on WHOM we build it matters most.

not its size, but its solidity.

not its frills, but its firm foundation.

not its decor, but its depth.

“unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”  psalm 127:1

the storms come crazy and shake loose all things left unhinged and un-footed. anything unanchored is fair game for a storm of this magnitude. as the windows rattle and the trees bend low, i am certain in these hurricane times, more than ever before, our firm foundation is of dire importance -- it is a matter of life and death. do we build on our created selves or on the One who created?

lately with everything going on in our country — the fear of covid, the failure of politics, the frustration of friends and family —we are all feeling more than a little unhitched and unsteady in our steps. even in our bold claims and public certainty, most of us remain privately unsure because our world proves itself a gigantic pot of the great unknown. a pot stirring an anxious soup of no solid and sure answers.

we won’t get into all that, but what i am reminded of this stormy morning is the need, more than ever, to place our trust in the Solid and the Sure  — the Rock which is Jesus. a life built on Him steadies and beautifully fills in the gaps, flaws, deficiencies, and shortcomings of our humanity. no, it doesn't promise a perfect life, it promises something even better --- eternal life. 

it is Jesus, alone, who provides a firm footing for our tenuous steps in tempest-type storms. 

He is the Rock — the Cornerstone which the builders rejected. the only sure thing our lives can be built upon. not platform or policies or politicians or programs or people with grand promises … only Jesus. 

Jesus, The Rock of our Salvation. 

“for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  1 corinthians 3:11

 

“from the end of the earth i call to you when my heart is faint. lead me to the ROCK that is higher than i.” psalm 61:2

these words pour out this morning completely unplanned, but if you hear a note of pleading, you hear correctly. politics absolutely aside, i fear we chase the empty promises this world wants to whisper into our wide-open and hard-wishing, hope-wanting souls. 

whispers empty, but damaging, as the wind outside my window this morning. 

dear ones, let us not chase wind, but let us cling to rock.

i invite you to listen to louie giglio's unshakable sermon series from last week. it goes right along with what i've written today. but, i promise you, he says it all a million times better! here's the link!   "a chip off the old block"