Our family photo this year had us all piled up in a pyramid on the beach with me standing behind making sure the littlest one didn’t fall off the top. Dad and big brothers were on the bottom and older girls were in the middle. As I look at the picture, I can’t help but think of how God fits into our family pyramid.
If we put Him on the top, His position in our lives could be somewhat precarious. We might feel as though we could lose Him at any time. If He is the one standing to the side, we might view Him as around but not really part of things. If He is in the middle of the pyramid, we might have difficulty finding Him sometimes as He is overshadowed by everything else. But what happens when we allow God to be the foundation of our pyramid? Physically, we put Dad and the boys at the bottom because they are the strongest and best able to carry the rest. Had we counted on our eight year old daughter to be part of the foundation, our pyramid surely would have toppled and no doubt she would have been hurt in the process.
So it is with God. If we allow Him His position as foundation and cornerstone of our lives.
Isaiah 28:16
So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trust will never be dismayed.
The children sing a song at camp and in Sunday School that is a perfect illustration of this, it is called, The Wise Man Built His House. The story of the song is that the wise man built his house upon the rock (God), the foolish man built his house upon the sand (the world). When the rains (trials and difficulty) came down, the house on the sand collapsed but the house built on the solid foundation of God stood firm. The truths of this chorus can be found in Matthew 7:24-27.
It is so easy to think that we are in control and that we are strong enough to take care of everything in our lives – when things are going well.
Our son is courting a lovely young lady and I was chatting with her mum on the phone yesterday. We live in different provinces and the ‘children’ want to be able to spend some time together over the Christmas holiday. As parents, we want to help them make wise decisions and avoid situations where they may not be strong enough or wise enough to make the right choices. The other mum quipped, “It’s not like when they are little and we are protecting them from falling down or bumping their knees, but because we love them and are their parents, we are still responsible to look out for them and guide them.”
What a perfect description of God in our lives. No matter where we are in our lives or in our walk with Him, God loves us and He is committed to taking care of us and guiding us. Just as our young adult children could choose to navigate their relationship without counsel, so could we choose to live our lives without God. In either situation, forsaking wisdom, care and love can only hurt us. God gave us His Word, His Holy Spirit and His Son in order that we could have a relationship with Him. A relationship where we could understand His love for us and His desire to uphold us and bless us.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2
If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God.
God offers us His wisdom and if we are willing to hear it, He is able to bless us in amazing ways. Faith in God and His wisdom, laid as the foundation of our lives, our pyramid, allows us to withstand [in His power] the buffeting of this life and more than that, it allows us to be the one on the side helping to hold up those we love.
Ephesians 2:19-22
You…[are] members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
What/who is your foundation?
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I love the analogy of God being at the foundation of our lives. Our trust must come from God for us to handle whatever difficulties come our way. Yes, our wisdom comes from Him through His Word!