Matthew 7:24-27
Do all Christians have difficulties? Do they have to deal with sicknesses? With job losses? With calamities? With financial losses? Or is it only people with weak faith that have to deal with those things? Let’s see what the Bible says about difficulties or storms. Matthew 7: 24-27 New American Standard Version says (italics mine):
‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.’
This scripture is contrasting those who stand on God’s Word and those who do not. You will notice something interesting-that the storms are the same. Yes, both houses went through word for word the EXACT SAME STORM, “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house.” The difference is THE FOUNDATION!
Let’s look a little more closely at what the Bible says about us having difficulties in Psalm 34:19 NASB:
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Wait, what? Yes, the righteous have MANY afflictions (we are righteous through Christ, see 2 Corinthians 5:21). So what are afflictions? In Hebrew “affliction” H7451 means “bad or evil, adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, grief, harm, misery, wretchedness, wrong.” Has any of that ever happened to you? It has to me and I am righteous in Christ. It has to my family and we are all believers.
Yet, even though the Bible talks about us having afflictions, so many Christians are surprised or discouraged when they encounter them. And so many fall back into thinking, “Why am I going through this? God must have abandoned me. He has forgotten me.” But here the Lord reassures us that He delivers us out of our afflictions. Sometimes, though, the way He delivers us is different than what we anticipated; but one thing we can always count on is His nearness as we go through those difficulties.
I found Barnes’ Notes on the Bible for this verse helpful ( :https://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/34-19.htm). It explains that He helps us THROUGH our trials:
Religion does not exempt them from suffering, but it sustains them in it; it does not deliver them from all trials in this life, but it supports them in their trials, which it teaches them to consider as a preparation for the life to come.
And notice that we can’t just “hear” His Words, we have to DO them. If I only hear the word and don’t do it, I might as well ignore what I heard. For example, if I ask my son to take out the garbage and he hears me but he does not do it, he just ignored what I said. DOING the Word means putting it into practice. Of course, we do that with His help. And when we are doers of the Word, we can stand on that ROCK which is Christ and know that whatever comes against us, we will not fall. Psalm 46:1-3 says:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Sounds exactly like what happened to both houses in Matthew 7. Yet, though the storms come, and yes, they will, we are promised here that He will be with us in the storm. His presence is our promise when we stand on the ROCK. And oh what a promise that is! So,
LET’S STAND ON THE ROCK AND TRUST HIM TO BE WITH US IN OUR STORMS.
In His Love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 