When Foundations Crumble
There’s a saying among seismologists: “Earthquakes don’t kill people. Buildings kill people.”
It’s not the enormous shock waves that cause most injuries and fatalities. It’s how the structures in which people live, work, and congregate react to those shock waves that literally spell the difference between life and death.
While all buildings can, figuratively, carry their own weight, they are not generally designed to resist the irregular movement produced by an earthquake, which causes the building structure and foundation to crumble and come tumbling down.
Such destruction also occurs on a spiritual level as well, especially when unexpected events change our spiritual landscape. These occur when life takes an unexpected and cruel twist that rocks our nicely built world.
What got me thinking about this was one of our studies in the men’s group on Wednesday night. I wondered how we go about rebuilding our lives and our spiritual foundations when these spiritual earthquakes hit, which happen most often during times of loss.
Loss is something every one of us has experienced and will continue to experience in life, and unless we learn how to handle life’s losses due to these spiritual earthquakes, then we’ll never heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The good news is that the power of God’s grace and love are more than sufficient to help us survive these spiritual earthquakes no matter what they may be.
In his second letter to the Corinthian church the Apostle Paul looks at the sufficiency of God and sees that no spiritual earthquake is so devastating, or so intense, that God is not capable of overcoming it.
Paul begins by saying, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV)
He goes on to say that no matter what may happen to us, or whatever disaster may strike, God’s grace is sufficient and will carry us through.
“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV)
Paul reveals this reality in his own life as the Lord made it clear that His grace was sufficient for whatever difficulty, trial, or tribulation Paul was experiencing.
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9a NKJV)
The reality is that no one is immune from these spiritual earthquakes, and it often feels like were literally living our lives over some fault line. But for us as believers this doesn’t have to take us by surprise, because Jesus warned us.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)
And while Jesus warned us that these spiritual earthquakes will happen, He also gives us the assurance that they don’t have to bring us crashing down, and that we can rebuild our lives once again, and that’s because of His peace, and that He has overcome the world, that is, He has defeated the enemy that seeks to destroy our soul and spirit.
Therefore, we have everything we need in God to survive the spiritual earthquakes and Life’s losses.
Take a look at how capable God is to handle and help us through these devastating times.
1. God Cares
“What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4 NKJV)
Jesus said in Luke 12:7 that if God takes care of the sparrow that neither sows or reaps, then how much more will He take care of our needs as well, because we’re of far greater value than many sparrows. And then in John 10:14 Jesus proclaims that He is the good shepherd who takes care of us, and that’s because He knows everything about us.
It is clear then that God cares for us.
2. God Comforts
Through Isaiah, the Lord emphatically states that He is our comfort.
“I, even I, am He who comforts you.” (Isaiah 51:12 NKJV)
This is picked up by Paul who said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4a NKJV)
God first does this through His word as the Psalmist declares, “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.” (Psalm 119:49-50 NKJV)
The second way is through praise and worship. The prophet Isaiah says that the heavens and earth will break out in song, because God has comforted His people, and will have mercy on those who have been afflicted (Isaiah 49:13).
3. God Hears and Delivers
Many times, the Psalms talks about how when we cry out to the Lord that He hears our cries and delivers us. No place is more pronounced than Psalm 34 where he declares,
“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears … (and) The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalm 34:4, 17 NKJV)
And if you desire, read Psalm 91 to get the full measure of how God cares, comforts, hears, and delivers.
How Do We Rebuild
So, how do we rebuild these crumbling foundations?
1. Through Jesus Christ our Cornerstone
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.’” (Isaiah 28:16-17 NLT)
In Ephesians 2:10, Paul confirms that this firm and tested stone, this precious cornerstone that is safe to build our lives upon is none other than Jesus Christ whom he describes as the chief cornerstone.
Figuratively speaking, a cornerstone is a quality or feature upon which a particular thing depends upon, or is based upon.
In buildings it is the initial stone. It is the largest, most solid, and most carefully constructed stone in the entire building. It is the basis upon which the foundation is laid and where the walls become joined.
What this says then is that Jesus Christ, as that chief and precious cornerstone, is who our lives are to be based and built upon, and in whom the entirety of our lives depends.
And therein lies the key, any other foundation will crumble if we try to build upon it.
Paul said, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11 NKJV)
Paul knew the truth of Jesus words when Jesus said that those who hear and obey His words will be like a wise man that built his house upon the rock (a descriptive term used for Jesus), and when the wind and waves of outrageous fortune strike, the house will remain standing. But if someone refuses to hear and obey, then it’s like building a house upon the sand that will crumble and tumble down when those same winds and waves hit (Matthew 7:24-27).
And so, we can trust Jesus at His word, especially when He says,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)
Let me just say that Jesus understands what we are going through during these difficult times. The writer of Hebrews tells us;
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15 NKJV)
But not only does He understand, but He did something about it, taking our place and dying in our stead, because the wages of sin is death. But while the wages of sin is death, Paul goes on to say that God’s gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).
And because of this, Jesus can bring both peace and rest to our weary souls during these times of shaking.
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV)
Since we’ll be watching the documentary of Billy Graham tonight, I thought it apropos to quote him at this stage of our study.
“For the believer there is hope beyond the grave, because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by His death and resurrection.” (Billy Graham)
It was through Jesus’s death upon the cross, and His resurrection from the dead that He overcame the world, that is, He overcame sin, death, hell, and Satan. And because of this, those who believe in Jesus can have eternal life in heaven.
The writer of Hebrews says that through His death Jesus destroyed Satan and his power over death (Hebrews 2:14). This is why we can loudly and proudly proclaim, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55 NKJV) Paul goes on to say that the sting of death is sin (1 Corinthians 15:56a).
And so, Jesus overcame it all.
2. Through Other Believers
Now that we have established that Jesus Christ is our cornerstone, the base of our foundation, how do we build ourselves up in the most holy faith (Jude 1:20)? The most obvious answer is through time spent with God in prayer and the reading of God’s word, the Bible.
But we also are to build ourselves up in the faith with others of the same faith.
To Timothy, Paul tells him to flee the lust and desires of this world, the lust and desires of the flesh with others of the faith, or as he said, “with those who call upon the name of the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). But it is Peter who establishes this truth in speaking of the church and Jesus as its cornerstone.
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (1 Peter 2:4 NKJV). And then he said,
“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV)
We are to build our lives upon Jesus Christ as that chief and precious cornerstone, but then we are to come together, to be fit together building up God’s house, the church.
How are we to build upon God and one another? This is found in the Great Commandment, and it is nothing less that love.
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV)
What Jesus is saying by putting these two scriptures together is that we are to love God with the whole of our being. But we show that love by loving others the same way we want to be loved. So, if we want to be loved unconditionally, then we need to love others with that same unconditional love.
There are two ways that this takes place.
a. The Ministry of Presence
Through the ministry of presence, we can bring comfort to the hurting. All we have to be is available for God to use.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” … “Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV)
This is the ministry of presence. It is where we make ourselves available for God to use to bring His comfort to others.
b. The Ministry of Reconciliation
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJV)
To reconcile is mainly the act of helping two opposing parties come together in agreement. And so, God has given believers the ministry of reconciliation; that is, He uses us to tell the world that they can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
3. Through Creating A New Normal
Once a house or structure is destroyed by an earthquake, there is no way that it will be rebuilt to its first specifications. Changes to the design will need to be made, and changes due to circumstance and present situations also plays a part in the rebuild.
The same goes for those losses that happen in our lives.
This reality hit home when I was asked about 20 years ago by the “Families of Murder Victims” in Las Vegas to address their Christmas service. Here they are, without their loved one due to the violence of another, and at a time when they are missed the most. Talk about a hard service to conduct.
I was to bring them comfort, and a word of encouragement. A couple of days before the service, the Lord laid upon my heart this idea that while life will never return back to normal for them, they can begin to find a new normal.
The example I used was of a person who lost an arm. That person’s life will never be as it was, but they can find a new normal, that is, a normal life with one arm instead of two.
After such a devastating loss, life will never be the same as it once was, but that doesn’t mean that this new life can’t be just as rewarding. But to find this new normal there are several things that we have to change.
First, we have to resist the temptation to be bitter over the loss.
Whenever bitterness enters, joy exits. Bitterness is a poison that destroys. Therefore, instead of turning bitter, we need to turn to the Lord and find His joy. To find that joy, we need to know that God is working in the midst of life’s storms. He is healing, cleansing, protecting, loving, and delivering.
Next, we have to resist blaming others.
We often feel that if we can find someone or something else to blame for our losses then everything will be okay. This is human nature in its rawest form. If something good happens we had a hand in it. But if something bad happens it’s someone else’s fault. We even go so far as to blame God.
And finally, we need to resist focusing on what’s been lost and instead focus on what is left.
Some would say that it’s all about counting our blessings rather than staying stuck in our losses. Finding our new normal is all about counting our blessings and focusing on what is left, that is, focusing on God, family, friends, and faith.
Conclusion
Spiritual earthquakes and the losses that occur come in a variety of ways and are a reality of life, but they don’t have to be the last word on what our lives are now supposed to be, which can be just as fulfilling and exciting as our lives were prior to the loss.
But we have to let go of the “why” and start looking for those reasons to continue, those reasons to move forward.
There are so many things that happen which lead to these spiritual quakes and their losses that we’re never going to understand. We are never going to have all the answers, but we can rest being fully assured that God does, and that He will work out whatever we’re going through into something good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)
