Matthew 7:24-29
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Jesus says we will have trials in our lives and storms will be there in certain times...These times will test our faith in God...
When C. S. Lewis lost his wife, Joy, he wrote a book called A Grief Observed...In the book he writes, “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality.. He knew it already.. It was I who didn't.. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once.. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards.. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”...And Lewis adds, “If my house has collapsed at one blow, that is because it was a house of cards...The faith which 'took these things into account' was not faith but imagination.”...And then he writes, “for the greater the love the greater the grief, and the stronger the faith the more savagely will Satan storm its fortress.”...
Lewis had became a pillar of faith in God...But now in his times of trials his faith was tested...And he saw the reality of his faith...Pain grief, and loss of our spouse we love deeply seems to run counter to God, if God is LOVE...But as Lewis reminds us in his grief, these are the times when our faith gets tested...God knows how strong our faith is, but do we?...These are the hard rain times...These are the times when wind is blowing hard and is beating against our house...
Our faith is one of the Great Foundations in our life...Faith is one of the Great Virtues...It will be tested...And we learn more about our faith in these times of our troubles...How we view our own faith and how we view God may change when the pelting rain and the heavy winds come...