ICS Daily Devotions
Resilience in the Presence of a “Beating”
Luke 6:46-49 (NKJV) But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.
Many of us are familiar with the havoc that a typhoon or a storm can bring to a village, town or city, either through personal experience or from news reports. And even if we have not been personally affected by physical storms, many of us have had to endure the “storms of life” which beat vehemently upon us. These are unpleasant experiences or challenging or difficult circumstances that either broke or pushed us to the limit. We might not be able to avoid such adversity, affliction and tribulation, but through God’s grace and by building the right spiritual foundation, we can definitely ensure that we bounce back and stay resilient.
Jesus, the Son of the Living God, asks us to dig deep into His word and lay the foundation well for our lives, so that we will have a firm footing when we are faced with adversity, affliction and tribulation. Jesus and His work of atonement and redemption is the rock upon which we are to build the foundation for our lives. And we will be able to walk out a lifestyle of faith, supported by His grace, once we have consecrated our lives to the Lord.
Jesus mentioned that although there will be tribulation in this world, He has overcome it. The best assurance for us is to have God’s presence when we are going through a difficult season in life, whether it comes in the form of a job loss, business failure, financial difficulties or sickness and death.
Yet even when we have consecrated our lives to God and are walking in His will, we may still experience challenges. The storm that led to the flood that beats vehemently on the house will come regardless of whether or not the house has a foundation. The point is that the one with the strong foundation will not collapse. What would really help us to withstand the beating of any storm is our foundation. Standing firm on God’s promises and having faith in His Rhema word will keep us anchored and we will not waver when beating and shaking comes from the evil one. We would still bounce back, and that is resilience.
Sermon Series： Resilience
