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Seed Thoughts

Seed ThoughtsWhen you find yourself in a crisis situation, how do you respond? I have always found that a person’s true foundation comes out when you observe them in a crisis situation.


I remember many years ago in children’s church how the teacher would tell us the story of the wise man and the foolish man and the crisis that came upon them. We would then sing a song demonstrating what we had just heard.


That is still one of my favorite parables in the Bible. Let’s refresh our memory of this great story in Luke 6:46–49 (NIV): “ ‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.’ ”

That story impressed me as a child, and I made a determination at that point that I did not want my spiritual house to be built on the sand but on the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have also heard the saying, “You can’t build a foundation in the middle of a flood.” It is so important to build a strong foundation on the Word of God so that when a situation arises, you will automatically speak what the Word of God says about the situation.

Many people make positive confessions as long as things are going well. However, when a crisis occurs, the same people begin to utter, “My goodness, what are we going to do now? My life is falling apart.” My husband often repeats what he would hear his dad say in crisis situations. As a young child he would ask his father, “What are we going to do now?” His father’s reply would always be, “Son, this is just another opportunity to prove that God’s Word works.” People often want to have a testimony. However, have you ever looked at the first four letters of the word testimony? T-E-S-T. It’s very difficult to have a testimony without a test. But I am so thankful that if we build our house on the Word of God, we can have a testimony through every test and trial.

Let’s look at Luke 6:46–49 in The Message Bible: “ ‘Why are you so polite with me, always saying “Yes, sir,” and “That’s right, sir,” but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.’ ”

You may wonder why your life is collapsing around you. Are you just mentally assenting to the promises in the Word of God or are you allowing them to become the very foundation of your life? We must not only hear the Word, but we must be doers of the Word.

James 1:22–25 (NIV) says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting
what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

Make the Word of God the very foundation that you build your life on. If you do, when calamity strikes, out of your mouth will automatically come—“I always triumph in Christ Jesus. I cannot go under for going over. My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory. By His stripes I am healed.” A firm foundation will bring you out of every circumstance the enemy sends to destroy you. Your house will not collapse, but will stand firm through the storms of life.