All Other Ground is Sinking Sand

I was having the perfect day.  I'm talking flip flops, windows down, music up, not a care in the world.  I couldn't have found anything wrong with life if I tried.  Then, with the ting of an incoming text message, that all changed. 

Within seconds of reading the message, I felt icky...shaky really.  If it had been the movies, I'd have cued the rain and Hallmark Channel music to match my mood. 

What could the text have said to change my day so quickly?  Was someone I love hurt?  Did I receive a lifetime ban from Krispy Kreme?  No, a friend said something that hurt my feelings.  Yep, sounds very elementary school when I see it in writing but there you go. 

See, I am a people person.  Even if you are not so loveable, I will still love you because I just know I will be the one to change you from an Eeyore into a Pooh Bear!  But I especially love MY people, the friends I share life with, and if anything is wrong with them my whole world feels off balance.

This time (finally), I really and truly gave the situation to God.  He helped with the ickiness, gave me grace goggles to see their perspective and by the next day, my world was in balance again. 

But as I explained what happened to my ever-patient husband, my own words convicted me (don't you love when that happens!).  I told him that friendships mean so much to me that if something is wrong with one of them I feel unsettled and unsure all around.  Immediately, Matthew 7:26 came to mind: "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, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Uh oh!  Without meaning to, I had been building my life on a foundation based on my relationships with others instead of on my relationship with God.  No wonder things could feel shaky from just one little text.  The slightest wind and rain of life had sent my house crashing down.  God wants us to have friendships but when so much of our joy hinges on anything other than Him, it's a signal that something is out of balance.    

Many of us are standing on foundations that were never intended to steady us; our marriages, motherhood, financial security...not bad things, just not God.  Thankfully, the answer is found in Matthew 7:24-25: “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.  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."

We are only as strong as our foundation and I'm determined to build my house upon THE ROCK!