Remember the words of the old Sunday school song, ‘The wise man built his house upon the Rock…The foolish man built his house upon the sand’? The storm hit both houses, but only the wise man’s house was left standing. Jesus wasn’t just recommending the benefits of wisdom over foolishness. The truth is, we’re all wise at times and foolish at others. And He wasn’t saying the house that survived the storm was a believer’s house while the house that collapsed belonged to an unbeliever. He also wasn’t implying that the church attender’s house withstood the storm while the non-attender’s house collapsed. His point was more basic – and more compelling. When things are at their worst and we’re feeling cornered, when we doubt we’ll get through it, when we’ve used up our last ounce of resistance, it’s not our wisdom, salvation, or church attendance that gets us through the storm. While these are important aspects of Christian life that we can praise God for, many wise, faithful believers go under in life’s storms: a broken relationship, a failed exam, an unexpected illness, a major, unlooked-for change. Jesus’ point wasn’t even a plea for increased knowledge of His Word. Both of the homeowners in the story understood His Word, but just saying, ‘Lord, I totally agree with you,’ won’t get us through the storm. The point Jesus was making here is that doing what we hear Him say is what will get us through the storm! God has bound Himself to honour His Word, and our obedience aligns us with it and activates His power on our behalf.
