Psalm 18:2
God is My Rock
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Matthew 7:24-29
A Foundation that Survives
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.
James 1:2-8
Trials and Troubles
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
John 16:33
Peace, Yet Troubles
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 14:27
Peace from Another World
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
There will be times in our lives when are just rocked by troubles...And then we need the Rock , as the Psalmist says...The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I truly think that believers believe that God and His Son are the Rock they have to hold on to in times of troubles in this world...They are the foundation of a believer's life...Their faith not only gets them through small troubles but it also gets us through large times of troubles, sufferings, and griefs...To the non-believer and not having this Rock or foundation can be problematic when troubles come in their lives -and everyone at sometime or another will have troubles...Not knowing what one believes in and has faith in can make you like a wave of the sea that is tossed about by the wind (when troubles come) as you walk along the path of life...For the non-believer some troubles can overwhelm them, without the hope and faith of Jesus, because they have nothing to hang on to...
But this is not only a problem for the non-believer, it is a problem for the believer as well...Even the believer can we caught up in their problems, troubles, and temptations...Whenever we face these trials of many kinds, remember that this testing of our faith produces perseverance...Let perseverance finish its work so that you may become more mature and complete in your faith...These trials come because both the believer and the non-believer live in this world...And man is prone to a sinful nature...The difference in the non-believer and the believer is that the believer has Someone to turn to -and that makes all the difference in the world!...So when the believer has anxieties come in his life, or if he cannot quite find the peace he wants or needs, or a temptation quickly jumps upon him -there is Someone he can turn to...There is Someone who has overcome this world and all its troubles, all its anxieties, all its earthly temptations, and its lack of peace...And He wants to give us His peace...
Even though Jesus is removed from us physically and by two thousand years in time -He lives...Sometimes that is hard for us to get our arms around and sometimes just hard to believe...Doubt can come up...The Bible and Jesus can feel a little out of touch, and out of date...But Jesus was resurrected by His Father...He lived forty days after His death on the cross-which was for us and our sins...He then ascended to heaven...So He is still alive today -two thousand years later...I look at it this way...If I read a book full of truth that is ten years old it is very believable to me...It is modern and I can relate to it...If I read a book that is two hundred years old that is full of truth, it is still truth -but I get a little bogged down by the time element and the culture of the time...The two hundred year old book seems a little less modern and can feel out of touch...So, if I read a Good Book that is thousand of years old that is full of the Truth, I can get very much bogged time by the time and culture elements...But in none of these cases does it tarnish the truth of any of the books...Truth is truth, no matter how old truth gets...
Believers feel Jesus is still here for us today, when the winds of troubles come...And if we can stay focused on Him, He can relieve our anxieties, our troubles, and being blown about in this world by the winds of troubles of this world...He teaches us many things, and one of them is that by believing in Him we may have peace, as long as He is the center of our lives, our foundation, our Rock, and we are focused on Him...The mature believer wants and believes in this peace that only He can bring...And it is a peace that is not of this world, but of Another World...In this world we will have troubles -He makes that perfectly clear...As long as we live and work in this world we will have troubles...No matter where we go in this world, troubles will be out there in this world -we cannot run away from troubles of this world...But Jesus is from above and we are from below...In His world and when He is in our lives and we are focused on Him, He gives us a type of peace that is not as this world can give...When one's mind is full of Jesus, and focused on Him most of our hours and days, and He is the center of their lives -we can take heart when the troubles come -we are better prepared, because our foundation is strong...