The Sinking Sand Mystery

Stalking behind the hope of each New Year can be haunted past hurts, griefs and disappointments from the year behind us.

Out with the old, in with the new. Good riddance. Three-hundred and sixty-five new days to get it right this time.

Before the ringing in of the New Year, I noticed many friends on my social media posting how bad the past year had been.

“Thank God this year is over!
“Moving on…”
“Worst year ever.”
“Please be a better year!”

These are comments I read as the old year faded away. And I get it; it wasn’t my best year either.

Perhaps we should look at the future from a new perspective. Maybe we have built our life, or our “house” in the wrong location.

We’ve all heard it: Location, Location, Location. It’s true a location choice can make or break a business. My last visit to an outlet mall made this clear. The place was hopping on that Sunday afternoon.

After my husband maneuvered our way into a parking spot, we began our trek up and down the rows of stores, from one end of the outdoor mall to the other.

Shoppers filled the stores and people traffic was heavy on each row. The sun was so bright that day, but the sun’s not relevant to the story, so I’ll move on…

Every row was busy—until we got to the last few rows of stores. There were only a few people walking up or down these rows. Those stores had missed out on a prime location.

The mystery of life can be like that;
always looking for a prime location.

What the world advertises as “prime” can lure us. Too often, what we get isn’t what we hoped it would be.

That old saying, “All that glitters is not gold”, is true and one we should take to heart when building or rebuilding our lives.

Time and time again we see the destruction when a hurricane makes landfall. The greatest devastation happens at the point where the monstrous storm meets the land. And that land is a prime location…isn’t it?

Wildfires gobble up luxurious million dollars homes. Homes and lives built on a prime location.

Location can be everything. While that beautiful beachfront property is desirable that doesn’t make it prime.

In the book of Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus teaches on the wise man and the foolish man. One man  builds on a firm foundation, but the foolish man builds where the world says is a prime location.

In verses 26 and 27, Jesus says:

“But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

While the views may be beautiful and the peaceful sounds of crashing waves may lull us to sleep, we have built our lives on sinking sand. When the storms come, our foundation will wash away.

In verses 24 and 25, Jesus says:

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

No life is free from the storms that come. Some storms pass over fast, but others hover and beat us down. If we have built our lives on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, we have His promise our house will not collapse.

“From the end of the earth I will cry to You.
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the ROCK
that is higher than I.”
~Psalms 61:2

God’s truth can be a mystery: sinking sand is the world’s prime location, but the bedrock foundation is God’s prime location.

Building or rebuilding our lives will sometimes mean we have to move. Moving isn’t fun and there’s a lot of old baggage we have to get rid of. But building or rebuilding on the solid rock IS God’s prime location for our lives.

“He is the Rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright He is!”
~Deuteronomy 32:4