Billy Graham tells a story about a family who purchased a plot of land for a home in the Appalachian Mountains. It was breathtaking, overlooked a valley, and faced some beautiful mountains.

They made plans, chose a builder, and the house was completed.

After about a year, things started to go terribly wrong. They noticed that the soil was depleted and depressed around the foundation. Cracks started appearing in the walls.

A structural engineer discovered that the concrete for the foundation was poured over a pit filled with old stumps, loose rocks, and debris. The house literally started to sink into the ground!*

Because the foundation wasn’t solid.

What is your foundation? Be honest. Because in times like these, a solid foundation is… well, foundational to your well-being and hope.

-Is it your family? Family is nice, but not solid enough.
-Is it your friends? Friends are nice, but not solid enough.
-Is it your career? Careers are nice, but not solid enough.
-Is it your bank account? Money is nice, but not solid enough.

In Ephesians 2:20-21 Paul says that as members of God’s household we are “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.”

Are you feeling shaky? Uncertain? Like your life is waffling on shifting sand?

When we take the foundation out from under a house, it sinks into the ground.

But that’s not you.

Remember your foundation, and even more than that, the “chief cornerstone” whose name is Jesus. And no storm, argument, failure, mistake, uncertainty, or pandemic can body-check him loose.

And you are his.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Do you want to receive an automatic email reminder every Sunday morning to connect directly to the YouTube live stream at Westminster Church where I lead worship and preach? Here’s the correct link to sign up for free.

–Today’s “Up!” is related to my most recent sermon: “When life feels out of control.” Click here for watch on YouTube.

–*Billy Graham, Nearing Home (Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 2011), 131-2.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.