Daily Devotional

So much of the hard work of the Christian life happens right here, in the middle of the flood. People are swept away by the storms of life, and often it is because they never actually built on the solid teaching of Christ. They may be able to articulate his teaching just fine. They can quote the verses and recite the creeds. But articulating is not the same as building, and agreeing is not the same as submitting. The real question is whether the words of Jesus have ever been put into practice.

When someone’s world collapses and they come in wrecked, the real work is usually not about the storm itself, because storms hit everybody. The work is helping a hurting person see the difference between their circumstances and their response to their circumstances. The storm is real, and it should never be minimized. But the storm does not get the final say on your response. Your foundation gets the final say. What you actually believe about God, deep down in the control room of your heart, is what determines whether you stand or fall when the water rises.

This is why we have to learn to read our circumstances through what is actually true about God: his wisdom, his sovereignty, his nearness, his grace. That truth is the rock under your feet when the wind is screaming. And here is the good news for anyone whose house feels like it is coming down today. The goal is not merely to get the rain to stop. The goal is to build, even in the storm, on the words of Jesus. A foundation can be poured in the middle of a flood. It is not too late.