Storms Don’t Build Your Faith… They Reveal It

Have you ever heard the song, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I'm not gonna sing that for you. I'm gonna spare your ears. I did not pass the audition for the music team, okay? However, I have enjoyed that song until it just messed me up. You see, I like to think of myself as a strong person, right? And when the challenges of life come my way, I would start playing that song like an anthem. Like, Emily, you're a warrior. You're tough. Lace up your warrior boots. Come on, get stronger. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be strong when challenges come. The challenge is when I will myself to strength, that only lasts so long before my emotions are left like a puddle on the floor. Storms don't build your faith, they reveal it. Storms don't build your faith, they reveal it. You're building your life on something, a relationship status, a career, net worth, social media followers. You're building your life on something. And each of us wants a life that lasts. We want a marriage that goes the distance. Kids who know God, not just know about God. Peace when the diagnosis comes back. Hope when the plan falls through.

We want a life that lasts and no one wakes up hoping to crash, hoping to go into a wreck. We want a strong life. The question is, who or what are you building your life on? If you have your Bible or your hope journal, turn with me to Matthew chapter seven, verse 24. Today, we're picking directly where we left off last week as PMC was talking to us and teaching us from the narrow road in this blessed life high road series. And he challenged us with this question, are you a fan or are you a follower? Ultimately hearing those seven most horrific words that anyone can hear, that I never knew you, depart from me. Today, verse 24, we pick up right where we left off last week and it starts with the word therefore. Now, when we hear the word therefore in the Bible, we pause and we ask, what is it there for? You see Jesus, he's about to answer the question that naturally rises up in us. With the verses we read last week, Lord, Lord, like I knew you and then Jesus saying, I didn't know you. It can cause some internal confusion, like how? Like how can someone say, Lord, Lord, but then God look at them and say, I never knew you. Like what then is enough if that's not it? Jesus is about to answer this for us today. Matthew seven, verse 24. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man

who built his house on the rock. Now let's notice here, Jesus immediately is defining what wisdom is, what it looks like. He says, the wise man, it's not somebody who just took a bunch of really good notes in their hope journal. It's not just somebody who hears. The wise builder heard, but then he built. Jesus is noting that wisdom, it's not just on hearing a message, but it's how you apply God's words. Verse 25, the rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house and it fell with a great crash. Now pause with me and think about stories. The stories that we're trained to like, they end with a happy ending, like happily ever after, right? Like any Hallmark movie, the plot goes something like this. There's a girl, she lives in a city. She has a big job. She has the right kind of boyfriend, but then her dad in the small town calls her. His medical clinic is failing. So she needs to go home and help her family business succeed.

While she's home, she runs into her high school sweetheart who's the good guy she left behind. Then she realizes the error of her ways. She leaves the city, stays in the country, marries the good guy and all is happy. happily ever after. Like there are scientific studies that tell us we experience these happy endorphins after watching that plot. We see resolution and we walk away feeling good. Jesus doesn't do that in this parable. He does the opposite. He starts with the wise man and then he ends with the fall of the foolish man. Now remember that, because later as we continue unpacking God's word, we're gonna dive into why that's so important. But in the verses that we just read, Jesus, he says, the rain, it came down. The streams froze and the winds blew. He doesn't say if, he says when. Storms, they're unavoidable. They're going to come. And Jesus also very quickly identifies that we all experience storms. The foolish man and the wise man experienced a storm. No one is storm proof. Both Christians and those who don't follow Jesus, every single human experiences storms. And culture, culture celebrates appearance over foundation.

Like how many Instagram followers do you have? How many people watched or commented on the reel that you just posted? Like who are you dating? Where do you live? What neighborhood do you live in? What brand are you wearing? Where do your kids go to school? We celebrate appearance. And when the storms and the challenges of life come, we want a quick fix. We want a microwavable solution. Some prompt that we can put into Claude or chat GPT and just get the answer quickly. We don't want to sit in the storm. But what Jesus is teaching us is that foundation matters more than the finished work. Now, ladies, we get this. We get this quickly. Guys, what I'm about to say, you're gonna be like, what even is that? Just hang on for a second. Ladies, before you put foundation makeup on, there's something important you need to put on first. It's a little product called primer, okay? If you don't put the primer on, your foundation is gonna crack and it's gonna melt down your face. We need a primer first. The foundation matters for how the finished product looks.

That's what Jesus is teaching us. And here's the thing, the foolish builder in this story, he might not have been building a bad life. He could have been a really good guy. He could have been impressive. He could have been the kind of guy who's on the dream team, who shows up every single week. He might not have been building a bad life, but he was so focused on building what everyone expected to see that he never built the foundation under his feet, the part that only God sees and inspects. You see, he asked, what's the quickest? While the wise builder asked, what is the strongest? Our culture asks, what's easiest? While Jesus asks, what is lasting? You know, you can drive into a neighborhood, park your car and look at two houses and they can look identical. I mean, they could have the same paint color, the same landscaping, the same structure. They could look exactly the same and yet be entirely different because of what you and I can't see, the foundation that it's built on. I learned a lot about foundations while I was touring houses. And not once did I tour a house and look to my realtor and say, I love this foundation, it is perfect.

No, no, no. Our conversations looked a little bit more like, oh, I love the paint color, this house is so cute. It matches my Pinterest mood board for it. Like this is really cute, I like this house. But then I called an inspector and an inspector taught me to look at cracks, like cracks on the porch, on the sidewalk. Is there cracks on the building, near the window? How far apart is the crack? I became an expert in looking at the cracks because they reveal a lot about the foundation. You see two houses, they can look the same. You can fool a neighbor and you can fool someone driving by. But what's underneath is what really matters. My foundation, my strategy for houses quickly changed from what's cute to what has good bones. You're building your life on something. The question is, who or what are you building it on? I'm about to say something. That is super important and I want you to catch it. So lean in with me. The greatest danger in your life, in my life, the greatest danger, it's not a visible crack. It's an invisible foundation. The greatest danger in your life is not a visible crack. It's an invisible foundation. Because you've been so busy making everything around you look, sound and feel perfect that you've never inspected

what's underneath your feet. The one thing that will last when the storm comes. Storms don't build your faith. They reveal it. Matthew 7 verse 28. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority, not as their teachers of the law. Now it's appropriate for us to pause here and ask like, who is Jesus? Who is this man who all summer long we've been studying the high ground? He's been teaching us hard truths. Who's this man to say a foolish builder, a wise builder? Like who is Jesus? According to the crowd, they said it's, he's a guy who speaks with authority. They were used to teachers who would quote other rabbis and sound important, but Jesus, he didn't quote anybody. He just spoke with authority. He spoke like a source. Now catch this. Jesus, he spoke with authority and like the source because we read in God's word, John 1, 1. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God. John 1, 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. You see Jesus, he's not just delivering a message.

He is the message. The entire foundation that he's talking about, it's not a formula or a quick fix scheme. The foundation is not a place. It's a person and his name is Jesus. Before Genesis, before sand, before there was a rock, before we're talking about a foolish and a wise builder, before culture could say their opinion on it, there was the word of God. There is the word of God and Jesus has never changed. Nothing has altered it, upgraded it, rebranded it or fixed it. Jesus Christ remains the same yesterday, today and forever. He cannot be changed. That's the definition of eternal. Everything else that you and I could build our lives on has an expiration date. Think about your health, education, relationships. Everything around us can, will and might probably change. Only Jesus won't. Jesus Christ never changes. And Jesus, he's not simply predicting the storms. He's preparing you and I for them. They're coming, it's inevitable and we're all going to experience storms in life. So how do you and I build a foundation that outlasts the storms? First, build daily before you need it. Build daily before you need it. There are two times a year

that I dread a date on the calendar, okay? It's going to the dentist's office. You see, two times a year I'm reminded that I don't floss and about seven days before that appointment, I start flossing consistently and they can tell, okay? Every time they remind me, Emily, you got to build daily before the appointment or you need it, right? And if I would just floss daily, I wouldn't show up dreading that appointment. We get that when it comes to our dentist appointments. This is true with God's word. Build daily before you need it. You build your life on the foundation of God's word and God's word is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 40 verse eight says, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. Hebrews 13, eight says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. So open scripture daily, not just on Sunday. And you need to open the Bible for yourself, not through someone else. You cannot outsource building the foundation of your life. Only you can build it. So you've got to read the Bible every single day. Jesus says, build on the rock, which is him today. Not tomorrow, because you have to lay the rock in the foundation before the storm. from ever comes your way.

Hebrews 4.12 says for the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. You see the Bible, it's not just some old book and it's not a decoration on your nightstand. It's a living builder. And when you open God's word, you're allowing God's word to build the foundation of your life. God's word is building you. Second Timothy 3.16, all scripture is God-breathed so the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. You see God's word, it comforts us in the storm, but it also prepares us for the storms that are coming. So how do you read God's word? How do you do that? You pick a time, you pick a place and you pick a plan. A time, a place and a plan. What time will you read God's word? For me, that's the morning before I get into my day where it gets busy and I get distracted and I know I'm probably not coming back. I start first thing in the morning. Maybe for you, it's on your lunch break or it's on a break in your car. Maybe it's after the kids have gone to bed at the end of the day.

It doesn't matter what time. It's not about the time. It's that you have an established time. Second, you pick a place. So I have a place where I go and I read God's word. I have a chair, a candle, a big cup of coffee. I look forward to going to that place. What's your place? Maybe it's a chair in your house. Maybe it's your backyard. Maybe it's your car or mom's. Maybe it's the restroom where you close the door and you say, kids, come back in five minutes. This is the only place you can get some alone time, right? You have to pick a place. And then third, you pick a plan. When you have your time and you have your place, you're not just then, okay, like, what am I gonna read today? Have a plan. If you don't know where to start, pick the YouVersion Bible app, download it on your phone. Every single day, they have a verse of the day. You can read it, watch the devotional, pray through the prayer prompt. It's an incredible resource. You also could take your hope journal. Every week, different communicators are reading and teaching through God's word. Write down those scripture references.

Read them all week long. Ask God to teach you through them. What's your time? What's your place? And what's your plan? Now we're Floridians, we're in hurricane season. So we get this. We get storms are coming and we have to have a plan. We need to be prepared, right? The danger is when the storm doesn't come, right? We've all seen the news. We've all felt the panic, the frenzy to go get everything we need and then no storm arrives. Last year wasn't a bad season, right? It's easy to then be apathetic towards the preparation. But did you know that our first responders, they have a time, a place and a plan every year to prepare for hurricane season? They are ready for if and when the storm comes so they can respond and make sure we're safe and we're healthy. They're ready regardless if the storm comes. You see, if they didn't prepare and then a storm did come and they couldn't help us, we would say that's not acceptable. You need to be ready. How is that any different than how we read and look at God's word? You see, you might not be experiencing a storm right now, but a storm is coming.

So how you prepare and deposit in your life today the word of God, it prepares you for when that storm happens and it is tempting. Sometimes you're gonna sit down in your place, you're gonna read God's word and you're gonna say, I don't really know how that helped me today. Thanks God, I don't know. But you still show up the next day and you read again and you add another deposit and another deposit because one day those deposits, they all show up in your life as faith out loud when the storm hits. Joshua 1.8 says, keep this book of the law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night. Then you will be prosperous and successful. The best defense against deception is daily devotion. Storms don't build your faith, they reveal it. And the only time to lay that foundation is today before the storm hits. Next Sunday, 3G, we won't be gathered here at this Mary Camp location. We, Church of Hope, will be all across 34 schools in Marion County. We'll be walking those hallways. We'll be putting our hands on the doors and on the desks, praying, asking God to show up and do what only He can do in teachers' and students' lives. We'll be showing up and making a difference. Has someone ever asked you to pray for them or to help them with something and you say yes

and you show up and help them and you walk away feeling more encouraged than how you helped them? No, that's happened to me before. That's your story next Sunday. You see, you think that you're gonna walk and you're gonna pray and you're gonna do something good for these students that you may never meet. You may never see the result of your prayers on 3G, but I promise you the faith deposit you make in your life, you're building before the storm comes because when the storm hits you and your family, you have a day, Sunday, August 9th, where you put faith into action. You walked and you prayed. You deposited belief in your soul before you needed it. That's a guarantee for when the storm shows up. How? How do you build this foundation that outlasts the storm? First, you build daily before you need it. Second, choose obedience over convenience. John 14, 15 says words that are quite frankly challenging. God's word says, if you love me, keep my commands. You see, love is demonstrated through obedience. We don't obey to earn God's love. We obey God because we've received his love. Love for Christ, that's not measured by what you know. It's measured by how you live, how you live out what God's word says to do. In Luke 7, there's only one difference

between the two builders, the foolish builder and the wise. Both heard the exact same message. They both had the same information, but only one applied, only one obeyed. You see, information fills your mind, but obedience, it builds your life. Hearing Jesus, it inspires you, it motivates you. It can make you feel good, but only obeying Jesus transforms your life. Knowing truth, it doesn't change you, but living truth does. And Jesus, he doesn't do truth, he is the truth. Since May 10th, we've been journeying through the High Ground series, unpacking Jesus' sermon on the Mount. And we've learned week over week that the High Ground, it's not willing ourselves up to behave different. We can't do it on our own. That's the whole point of the High Ground. It's admitting our need for God and discovering that the foundation for our lives, the only sure strength is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Jesus, it can't be second. You can only have one foundation. It has to be first. Yet tragically, most of us choose comfort over Christ. If you've listened to any motivational podcast, you have heard anything you want to experience in life is on the other side of your comfort zone. And comfort, it's built on convenience.

And convenience, it looks more appealing every single time. It is more appealing to hit snooze on my alarm clock than go run with the run club downtown. Sorry, Julius. It's really fun when I get there though. It is more appealing to drive through the drive-through than meal prep a healthy meal in advance. It's more appealing to stay in the relationship that you know is not best for you than starting over because you've heard that dating apps are horrible. It is more appealing to say no to serving on the dream team because you'd rather use that hour for something else. Convenience is built on what looks appealing. But here's the other side. Choosing convenience, it actually costs you more every single time because disobedience is more expensive. It might not show up in the immediate, but it will show up in the long run, in your health, in your relationships, in your relationship with God. It always shows up. Strong lives aren't built in public moments. They're built in private habits. It makes me think back to the house inspection that I had done before buying my house. You see that inspector, he walked through the attic and nooks and crannies. I didn't even know where to think in a house. And his inspection, it didn't cause one. The problem didn't cause a problem. It only revealed the work that had been done

and that still needed to be done for that house to be firm. It's time to inspect ourselves. And to do so, we need to revisit what we read about the narrow road last week in Matthew 7, 13. Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. And those who find it are few. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father, who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? See right here, he's calling out. We're so busy painting the walls of our life that we've skipped building the foundation on Jesus entirely. It's not about being a good person. It's about being built on Jesus Christ. Verse 23, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. The narrow gate is the foundation for your life. Jesus Christ is not a formula to control or to manipulate. He is a personal relationship to build your life on.

That's it. Jesus is the rock in the parable. The will of God is not that you impress Jesus, but that you trust him. So inspect yourself. What truth do you know, but you haven't obeyed? Where have you chosen convenience over obedience? And are you a fan? Or are you a follower? You see, fans are impressed. They're inspired and they're motivated, but only followers are imitators and are obeyers. So which one are you? You've got to inspect yourself. Like why? Why, what's at stake? Why are we even talking about this? Why the narrow road last week and today foundations like an exclamation point on this sermon from Jesus, why? It's your life. And this is not a dress rehearsal. You don't get a do-over. You have one life. This is it. Earlier, we talked about stories and how Jesus ends this parable. The entire sermon, his most famous sermon, he ends it verse 27. "'The rain came down, the streams rose, "'the winds blew and beat against the house

"'and it fell with a great crash.'" Jesus doesn't end this like a Hallmark movie. He's not trying to make you and I feel good. He's not trying to impress you or entertain you. He ends this in the reversal because he's trying to wake you up. He's trying to wake you up with the reality that only you get to build your life. No one else gets to pick, choose or build your foundation. Only you do. You get to decide. And you get to decide today. You see, the house that collapsed, the foolish man, his house didn't collapse because of one bad day, one rainstorm. The collapse is from a decade of compromises, of putting off obeying God. Said, I'll start reading my Bible tomorrow. I'll start serving in the new year when my schedule's a little more put together. I'll start trusting God financially like after I hit this savings goal. I'll start next, I'll do it another day. Failure is never one big crash. It's the culmination of a lot of little decisions day over day over day. If you've ever gotten in a cold plunge, it kind of burns. Like your skin, right when you get in, it pricks you and you feel like,

oh my goodness, I cannot handle this. But after you last through the cold plunge, you feel pretty clarified. You feel awake and you feel alert. That's what Jesus is trying to do in this story. It's like he's taking a cold plunge of water and throwing it on our face and saying, wake up. If you can hear my voice online, God behind bars in this room, you have an opportunity to build your foundation today. Jesus isn't trying to scare you or threaten you. actually offering a gift of mercy. This parable is not about a hard Tuesday. It's about eternity. And that one day you and I will stand before God and only you will stand before Him. Your pastor won't stand before God on your behalf. Your parents won't, your grandparents won't, your Sunday school teacher won't. It's you and God. Your foundation will reveal where your faith was. Did you build your life on painting yourself to be a good person? Or did you build your life on Jesus Christ? That's it, and that's what's at stake. It's all about eternity. Thank you. Being together in this space today is really good. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'd like to invite you today to start following Jesus.

It's not about your behavior. It's not about your church attendance. It's about the reality that Jesus is for you. God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. Would you right now pray this prayer with me? Hey God, it's me. I've sinned and I know it. And I can't fix me. But today I receive you, Jesus, as my savior. I believe that you died on that cross for me and that you were buried for three days and then you became alive again. And I invite you into my life to guide me and direct me all the rest of the days of my life. And with that prayer, my friend, welcome to God's family. I'd like to continue our friendship. If you would, email me, pastor at hopeinokala.com. I'll follow up with you and together we'll celebrate Jesus in your life. Peace.