Foundations

Let me be upfront in saying this – I am by no means a contractor, builder, nor anything of the sorts.  I know very little about the structuring of a house.  The basis of what I know about houses is what I can judge with my eye – whether I think it is pretty or not.  Typical girl. J  However, one thing that I have learned over the years, is that no matter how pretty a house is, before you purchase one you want to make sure that it’s foundation is solid – firm, long lasting, and without need of repair. 

Some of the houses that I find to be of most beauty are older ones – they offer character that you can rarely find in current, modern day homes.  However, with an older home, obviously there comes older everything…including an older, worn out foundation.  With time, these once perfectly flawless foundations often will need a boost, a rebuild, a repair, and an update.  

Sometimes these repairs can be a quick simple fix; however, more times than not (by the time that you realize things are in need of repair) it becomes far from cheap and far from a quick fix.  However, with money, with time, with hard work, with knowledge of the situation, with patience….eventually it can become just like new again (and sometimes even better than it was the first time around!). 

This morning – I was able to escape to a local coffee shop and simply spend some time with my Father, diving into His Word.  Often times, in my quiet time, I try to incorporate that days Proverbs and Psalms.  So today, I was reading Proverbs 10 and the Father threw this scripture at me…

“When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.” Proverbs 10:25.

And like a swift slap across the cheek, He got me again…

I like to think of myself as a God fearing woman, who is willing to trust Him with everything in me – I mean lets be real, I have spent the past year and a half living in Paris doing life His way (far from any desire I ever had…).  I like to think the foundation of my life was, has been, and represents that of a life grounded in Him. 

But, just like an old house…In the midst of life’s storm today, this old foundation started falling apart piece by piece.  It was in desperate need of remodeling, rebuilding, and restructuring. 

From mid August to mid October, my relationship with the Father was far from where it should have been.  My daily quiet times were being overtaken by life’s busy schedule.  My prayer life was completely falling apart, and was being overruled with harsher tears of crying out.  My ministry to those around me was being over powered by the foggy mindedness of worry and lack of sleep.  My love for, and my giving of thanks to Him was being consumed with questioning, doubt, and hurt….

While on the outside, I was able to keep my appearance up and put on a smile….Inside, my foundation, my relationship with the Father, was slowly crumbling. 

Fear.  Confusion.  Hurt.  Frustration.  Doubt.  All things from the evil one were slowly creeping in…And it was up to me to allow such deterioration in my foundation (in my relationship with the Father) to continue, or to quickly start repairing and rebuilding. 

…What I love so deeply about my Father is that He by no means expects me to be perfect.  At all.  When I desire to be perfect, when I strive daily to be perfect, He laughs and finds some way to show me how He not only uses, but adores my imperfections.  He is the keeper of my heart and through my imperfections He manages to draw me closer and closer to Him – daily causing me to love Him more.

So in the midst of this crumbling foundation, He grabbed my hand harder and pulled me in closer…Revealing and reminding me just how deep His love for me runs.   

Together, through His undying love for me and over my life, we started filling in those crumbling holes and reaffirming my foundation in Him to where it should be. 

Is this natural?  I like to think so.  I hope I’m not the only one out there who has breaking points, who allows worrying and life to creep in and begin to steel daily joys, daily truths, that He so eagerly wants to reveal.

So, if you are finding yourself in a similar situation to this today, let me offer 3 tips for how to start rebuilding that foundation in Him…these are the ways He pulled me through.

1.  Life can get busy!  Days can seemingly somehow feel shorter and shorter…Certain things MUST get done…And Jesus can get put on the back burner.  Don’t feel bad, we’ve all been there and done it.  But this one thing is imperative to our daily groundings, our daily walk with Him.  If you find yourself with a crumbling foundation, double check and make sure that you are spending quality time with the Father each day.  Even if that is only 10minutes a day in the Word, and prayers taking place in the car on the way to work – fuel the soul, start your day with Him. Tell Him what is hurting you, what is bothering you, consuming you, and getting in the way of your relationship with Him.  Cry to Him.  Lay life before Him, lay life at His feet, and watch Him work in you from that point forward….

2.  You are who you hang out with…We’ve all heard this one as a kid.  And the older I get, the more I see how true it is.  Are we supposed to hang out with and share life with the lost, with the abandoned, with the “misfits” of this world….Absolutely YES.  We are commanded to love all of His people.  But, while this is a commandment, make sure that your life is also shared with fellow believers that can hold you accountable, keep you in check, refuel you, and speak words of wisdom and encouragement to your life. 

3.  Get involved in a church – I will admit, in France, my biggest struggle was church on Sunday mornings.  When it should have been a time of refreshment, it was the exact opposite.  I dreaded Sunday mornings – I couldn’t understand a thing.  I found that if I catch the page number we were singing from, I had a successful day.   I whole heartedly missed engaging in life with fellow believers, and being taught the Word.  If your foundation is crumbling before your feet, evaluate your church life…Are you going?  If not, is there somewhere you could plug into?...Church isn’t just held in big steepled buildings like we Americans know them to be.  Scripture tells us that where two or more are gathered together, there He will be.  If there isn’t an “American style church” around you, are there other believers who also aren’t attending that you could meet and gather with weekly?  Is there a home available on your street for small groups to be held?  We can all make excuses for this area.  Don’t.  Plug in, get involved. 

At some point and time, for many of us, this breaking of our foundation,  happens more than just one time in our lives…Life gets messy, and our foundations grow weak, and thus becomes in need of repair!  It’s totally okay.  It’s totally normal.  Know that you aren’t the only one who has been through this.  But, be raw, be real, be truthful…Acknowledge the situation you are in, get on those knees, cry out to Him, and watch Him love you through.  And more than likely, by the end of the journey, I bet you’ll see yourself with a deeper relationship, a stronger foundation that you ever had before!