These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. Matthew 7:24-27 (The Message)
I am done reporting fifty years of memories with ten flashbulb moments. If you read through the whole series, you might have found it depressing. Death and destruction. Hurricanes, terrorist attacks, assassinations, politics, war. When I started this series, I didn’t realize that so many of my vivid memories involved tragedy. I suppose that is the way it is for all of us. We remember the times most when something bad happened. Our history, my history, is not light and fluffy. People do terrible things to each other. This earth despite its beauty is a harsh environment to live in. So, what gets me up every morning? Beyond the alarm clock and the paycheck, beyond the children and the husband I love. What keeps me going and on a relatively even keel? What keeps me from driving my car off the bridge or taking a handful of sleeping pills? Christ alone. This world will fail me. There will be trials. People will disappoint. Illness will come. Money will not satisfy. Things will not make me happy. My world as I know it can be washed away in an instant. Only Christ is eternal. Only Christ will complete me. Only Christ will endure. And when I am in Him, so will I. Through the Bible, God speaks to us in human terms. He talks about resting in the shadow of His wing. Of taking refuge in the eye of the storm. Of planting ourselves firmly on Him, the rock. He encourages us to look to Him for shelter, satisfaction, peace and love. On the days when despair fills my heart, I can go to Him for comfort. On the days when joy overflows, I know its source. If darkness looks like it will overtake me, I can trust that He is light. I do not know what the next fifty years may hold, but I know that He will be with me just as faithful, just as powerful, just as merciful as before. As I heard someone say recently, I do not know what the journey holds, but I know where the destination lies. If you do not know for yourself what I am talking about, I would be more than happy to share Christ with you. I love the parable written here. Living in Florida, a land that was once the bottom of the sea, I know what sand is like. Shifting, unstable, restless. Millions of dollars spent to pump sand onto beaches that washes away in the first storm. The only life that will last, the only life that will endure the hardships of this life is the one built upon the Rock. There will be more flashbulb moments. Hurricanes will come. Buildings will fall. People will die. The question is what do you see in that moment when your life is revealed with such clarity? On what are you depending upon? Or rather, on Who?
In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand
I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand
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