The Deck

My last two days off, as well as a few evenings after work, I have been rebuilding a deck on the side of my house. Several years ago, when we first built it, I seem to remember my dad and Ben saying we should do this or that to make it more stout. I was in a bit of a hurry and wanted to get it built and start enjoying it. Well, after several years it sagged in places and warped in others. It now had to be repaired and reinforced. When I took the old deck boards off, it was easy to see the problem. I had not made the structure (framing) underneath strong enough to support the load of the deck boards and the traffic of people.

I replaced and repaired the old framing underneath. I also put in a lot more support to the framing. It took quite a bit more time preparing the structure underneath (the foundation for the deck) than it did to put the new deck boards on top of the framing. However, if you came by and looked at it now, you would only see the deck floor and not all the new and reinforced framing underneath. Outwardly it looks a lot like the old deck, but underneath is a whole new strength.

This is similar to what God does in our lives when we allow Him to come in and rebuild us. He changes the foundation that we stand on. When He enters our lives His strength is now our support and we won’t
sag, crumble, warp and then be blown away. Even when we face trials or troubles and we are seemingly blown apart, His “foundation” stands and we can rebuild on it because He is unmoved.

He is the concrete foundation that is still there after the storm. He is the Rock that is not washed away. After a storm, or just years of being out in the weather of the world, we may look a little different on the outside (like when I need a haircut and a shave). But on the inside, underneath this flesh, I am not moved because my foundation is strong.

I’m standing on the Rock!

“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. 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. 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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” – Matthew 7: 24-27 (NIV)

(From Greg May, Crewed Awakening, for January 4. Three times per week we publish a devotion from one of our authors.