STRONG THROUGH THE STORMS

EQUIPPING YOUR FAMILY TO THRIVE THROUGH THE SEASONS OF LIFE

What Are You Building On?

Pastor Tayo Adeyemi

                                                                  Sunday 08 May 2011

Foundation Scriptures: Matthew 7: 24 - 27

We are building on the foundations laid last week in our Family Convention in which we learned that God’s intention is that we and our children reflect and perpetuate His nature and character in the earth.  We learned that our responsibility as parents is to raise righteous and godly children and that the seven key steps that we must undertake to prepare our children to be strong through the storms are (i) Seek God’s face and know His mind for them (ii) Teach them – spiritually, morally, intellectually, socially and economically (iii) Pray with and for them (iv) Build confidence in them (v) Spend quality time with them (vi) Discipline them in love; and (vii) Use our words to build them up; not tear them down.  Now today, we are going to delve further into how we can prepare our families to overcome the storms of life.

WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING ON?

The first half of this year has been characterised by an incredible number of storms:  First it was the earthquake in New Zealand, then the earthquake in Japan, followed by the terrible devastating tsunami, then in recent weeks, attention has shifted West as hurricanes and tornadoes have lashed through several states in  the US, causing untold destruction and devastation. If there is one lesson to learn from all this, it is that storms are inevitable. Storms will come, whether you want them to or not. With storms, it’s not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. But the good news is that storms do not always have to spell destruction or devastation; it is possible to be strong through the storms. So, wisdom demands that we prepare our lives and our families to be strong through the storms – and that’s what this series is all about. In our foundation scripture, there are five key words mentioned or implied, that I would like to draw your attention to: BUILT; HOUSE; ROCK; SAND; and STORMS.

Now, with this in mind, I would like to share with you five foundational truths that will help you stay strong through the storms. These truths apply to you whether you are single or married; a parent or a child. If you are part of a family or you hope to one day have your own family, you need these five truths:

Building a family is like building a house: The same basic principles that apply to building a physical house also apply to building a family. All through the bible, the words ‘house’ or ‘household’ are used to refer to family, (examples of which can be seen in Joshua 25:15, 2 Samuel 3:1, and Matthew 12:25).  To start with, good houses do not just happen, likewise good families. Like a good house, a good family has to be built. You cannot just hope for, or dream of, or even pray for a good marriage or a good family. If you want it, you must roll up your sleeves and build. (See Nehemiah 2: 20)

BUILD BOTH FOR BEAUTY AND FOR STRENGTH

For a house to be strong, it must be built for strength: Both beauty and strength are required to make a house a good one. So, you can either build for beauty, or for strength. If you’re really smart, you will build for both. In Psalms 90:17 we see that reference is made to both the beauty of the Lord and the work of our hands being established, which is another way of referring to strength.

The things that make a house beautiful and the things that make a house strong are not necessarily the same. Beauty makes your house attractive, but strength makes it durable. The things that give beauty are obvious - the wall paper, lighting, carpets, paintings etc. But they are also the temporary things. They can wear out; get old, damaged or broken. The things that add beauty to a marriage, a family or a life are just like that; they are external, visible and attractive. But at the same time, they are fragile, fleeting and temporary. Beauty is necessary, because it is usually what attracts you to the house. Single people, when you see a guy or lady who gives you palpitations or butterflies in your stomach, it was their beauty that you saw.  However, beauty alone is not sufficient, because beauty can fade. After the beauty attracts you, look for the strength.

Every family will face storms: It’s only a question of time. In John 16: 33 Jesus said “In the world you will have tribulation”. Life operates in seasons; there will be good seasons and there will be bad seasons. There will be calm seasons and there will be stormy seasons. Storms will come – whether you are good or bad; whether you pray or not; read the bible or not; whether you’re born again or not; whether you have faith or not. Although these things can prepare you for the storms of life, they do not excuse you from them. Both the wise man’s house and the foolish man’s house experienced the storm.

A storm can be a violent or adverse weather condition or a sudden attack on a secure position.  Life is so uncertain, that anyone’s secure position can come under sudden attack at anytime. One day, you think everything is fine, next thing you know, you are in the middle of violent weather. Be assured of this one thing, your secure position will be tested. Indeed, the only way to determine the strength of anything is to test it. The billion dollar question is: ‘What will become of your house – your family, your marriage, your life after it has been tested by a storm? Will it stand or will it collapse?’ The answer to that question will depend on how you built your house – whether you built merely for beauty; or you also built for strength.

You must build with the storms in mind: Here’s the principle: Hope for the good days, but build for the bad days. That is exactly what you do when you take out car or home insurance – You take it out hoping that you will never have to use it. But you take it anyway. That’s what building for the storm is all about.

In our foundation scripture, Jesus identified two men. One was prepared for the storm, the other was not. The one who was prepared, Jesus called him a wise man. The house was strong, solid, stable and secure. The other one, Jesus called him foolish. He also built a house. But the problem was not with what he built, the problem was with what he built on. Notice that Jesus does not tell us about the beauty of the houses they built. We know nothing of how fine or how attractive or how exotic the houses are. Why? Because ultimately, none of that matters.

Take a good look at your family, your marriage, your children, your life and ask yourself one simple question: ‘Is this built to withstand the storm?’ If not, perhaps you need to review how you’re building and what you’re building on.

Now, here’s the strange thing: The storms that come to attack our secure positions can be negative things or positive things. Sometimes, the good things that God intended to be a blessing to your family, the devil can use to disrupt your secure position. Couples can start to drift apart after one of them got a better job, or after they had a baby, or after they moved into a nicer home.  In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul talks about the ‘weight of affliction’ and the ‘weight of glory’. Both are weights. If you put something heavy on a table with weak legs, the table will collapse under the weight of that object – whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. The point is this: There are different kinds of pressure. Affliction can put pressure on your family and glory can put pressure on your family. So, don’t pray against pressure, because you may be praying away your blessings. Simply pray for the strength to withstand the pressure when it comes.

The strength of every house begins from its foundation: The foundation is the unseen, but essential part of any structure. If the foundation is wrong, everything else will be wrong. The stronger the foundation, the greater the house will be and the longer it will last. The foundation is the security of the house in the day of adversity. It was the foundation that made a difference for the wise man when the storm came. So the question today is: ‘What kind of foundation have you established for your family?’

STRONG THROUGH THE STORMS

Now the beautiful thing about the Christian faith is that, with God, there is no such thing as a situation that cannot be redeemed. You see, our God is a God of second chances. So, if you have built on the wrong foundation, you can change it. If you have built on a weak foundation, you can strengthen it. So, in closing today, let me give you four elements of a strong foundation:

(i) Obedience: Notice, the difference between the wise man and the foolish man was not in the word that they heard. They both heard the same word; but one took advantage of the message, the other did not. A person who does not take advantage of a good message has no advantage over a person who has never heard it. The wise man heard the same message and recognised that God was speaking to him and sought to put the message into practice.

(ii) Prayer and Vigilance:  In Matthew 26: 41 Jesus told us to “Watch and pray” and in 1 Peter 5: 8 we are told to be “sober and vigilant”. Notice that the two go together – be prayerful, but also be vigilant. There are two aspects of vigilance: First, pay attention to your spouse. More marriages fall apart because of neglect than most people are aware of. Second, don’t be ignorant of the devil’s devices. Build strong boundaries and securities in your life against temptation. The bible says flee sexual immorality. That word ‘flee’ comes from a Greek word which means take your Reeboks and run! Don’t test the limits of your resistance – you are not as strong as you think!

(iii) Openness and Honesty:  One of the first things we are told about Adam and Eve is that they were naked and not ashamed; they were open and honest with each other. But the moment sin entered, they began to hide from each other and from God. The day you start to lie to each other is the day that trust starts to die in your marriage and the foundation starts to weaken. If you’ve been lying to each other, stop now – even if it is little things. If you’re hiding things from each other, stop now.

(iv) Celebration and Honour: People generally go where they are celebrated, especially men. Treat each other with respect and honour. Seize every opportunity to celebrate each other. Whether it’s in big things or small things; whether it’s just between both of you or in the presence of other people – celebrate your spouse. Whatever you devalue will depreciate in your eyes. If your spouse is not your number one priority in your heart, sooner or later it will show in your actions. So, go now and do a rearrangement in your heart; and after God, make your spouse number one.

If you wait till a storm comes before you start building a strong foundation, you have waited too late. Go home today and do an MOT on your family, on your marriage, on your life. If you discover that it is not built to withstand the storms, start correcting the situation today with these principles.