Sand or Stone

This blog post is adapted from the notes of a past Midweek lesson of the same title.

I had a lot of different plans for my life growing up. I wanted to be a vet, a photographer, an investigative journalist, a disaster relief specialist, a lawyer, a writer, an editor, a teacher. No matter what I wanted to be, I always had a plan.

In 2013, I was 17, and I was 3 weeks into college going to school to be an editor. But then I became very sick and was rushed to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. And all my current plans were thrown out the window. A couple years went by, and my life seemed to be getting back on track.

In the summer of 2018, there was a shift that happened that changed my life as I knew it. After some unfortunate events, about which I cannot go into much detail here, my family and I began to feel that God was pressing upon us to make a difficult move.

This was not an easy decision. It was a time of a lot of confusion, many rumors, and division. We were not the only ones who made this decision, and it split families. I lost friendships and connections that I’d spent my life building.

Over the next several months, I experienced the stages of grief in various order again and again. But all through this time, I found myself praying and reading the Word even more every day because I was desperate for help from God to get through this. I knew that He had directed us to this place, and so I knew that He must have a plan.

It wasn’t easy to maintain this trust. There were moments I wondered if I’d made a mistake in leaving. Maybe I was struggling with loneliness and depression because I had stepped outside of God’s Will. Maybe God was punishing me for something.

But we don’t have the capacity to understand the ways of God.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV

When you build your life upon the Rock, you can stand even when you endure situations that you don’t understand.

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27 KJV

Those who know Christ and follow Him can withstand life’s storms. It takes a relationship with Him. Elijah had a relationship with God. Job had a relationship with God. This means that they knew God, and God knew them. They trusted God. They talked to God. They trusted His Word. They followed Him.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

John 10:27 KJV

Those who disobey and refuse to follow God stumble and fall.

“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

1 Peter 2:6-8 KJV

See, the cornerstone in ancient times was the first stone laid in a building. It was the key part of the foundation. Those who reject Him don’t truly know Him. They don’t trust Him. They don’t have a relationship with Him. And He becomes a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense to them because they reject Him, and they stumble at the Word.

If I had given up on trusting God, if I hadn’t prayed and read the Word and tried to get closer to Him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. If I had chosen to ignore the leading of God’s Spirit and proceeded with MY plan, I would have missed out on the blessings, and the people, and the opportunities, and the relationships He’s placed in my life.

Do you have a plan for your lives? Do you trust God’s plan even if it’s different from your plan?

Daniel was taken captive into Babylon, taken from his home, but he still kept up his relationship with God even in the middle of an evil, wicked place. He prayed to God as he always did, and they threw him in a lion’s den. He trusted God’s plan. He had a relationship with God.

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

Psalm 63:1 KJV

What is the depth of your relationship with God? Is it strong enough that you know you can trust God no matter what tomorrow brings? Are you spiritually prepared for your next battle?

Disappointment is going to happen. Hard times are going to come. What will be your response when it happens? If it were to happen right now, would you stand?

Are you building your life on the sand or the chief cornerstone? Are you building it on your emotions, your will, and your way, or are you building it upon a relationship with Jesus Christ and surrendering to His will and His way? The disobedient stumble. The disobedient reject God’s Word, His ways, His plan. The wise believe on Him. The wise build a relationship with Him.

I don’t know what is going on in your lives right now. Maybe everything’s going well, or maybe you’re going through something you don’t understand and that you don’t know how you’ll get through. But as someone who’s been there, I can say that there is a purpose to the season you are in, and every season has an end.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV

I know what it’s like to have plans and then have them be erased in what seems like an instant because my plan wasn’t God’s plan. But you must trust God above all else, and the only way you can do that is if you have a relationship with Him. If you know Him, then you’ll be able to trust that He will guide you through every trial.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

Psalm 32:8 KJV

Do you know Him? Do you know His Word? Do you hear when He speaks to you?

Don’t waste your years thinking, I’ll get my relationship with God figured out later. He’s calling for you now. Now is the time to develop a strong prayer life and to plant yourself deep in the Word.

You have a choice to build your life on the sand or Stone. Build your life now not upon sinking sand, not upon what YOU want but upon Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone, and you will be able to stand.