Tornadoes and Safe places

Luke 6:6 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.3 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and athe ruin of that house was great.”

The Tornadoes that ripped through the Southeast on April 27th were devasting. The trails of death, rubble and destruction throughout my home state of Alabama look more like the effects of carpet bombing than a tornado. Walking through rubble of what used to be people's homes and lives is humbling and will force you to examine the true fragility of our days on Earth and the things we wrongly view as safe and secure. One thing that is impossible to notice as you walk through the carnage is the difference between total and partial destruction from the winds often depended on the foundational strength of the structure. Homes that had no rock solid foundation, anchored deeply into the Earth, were tossed around with great violence and mostly destroyed when the 200 mph winds engaged them. The stories of people whose homes took a direct hit, but escaped death by huddling in their "safe places" are incredible. Among the many faith lessons of struggle and victory in the wake of the destruction lies a simple one for us all. We all need a "safe place" that has an unshakeable foundation.

I have a picture of a house in my mind that specifically stoked the fire of this blog post. This one house had deeply poured concrete foundations that anchored it and held the structure of the house together while many of the houses around it had evaporated. I believe this is the same picture that Jesus wants to paint in our hearts about obedience to Him and our salvation. I want to be clear that I am not saying anything about people's obedience or disobedience and their fate during the tornadoes, as that is God's job. What I am saying is that one day we will face a spiritual test of our spiritual foundations as we stand before God that will mirror what happened to the structures as the violent winds tested their integrity.

Jesus' words are quite clear. If you want an unshakable foundation that is divinely anchored by His Power to Him, then joyful obedience based on desire for Him and His Glory is the only answer. The building your house upon the rock is much more than knowing about Jesus, singing the cute songs we learned in school and attending religious events. Jesus is crystal clear that the integrity and strength of our spiritual house, called the soul, is only unshakable when we fully lean in to His identity and submit to Him. When we know Him, we can't help but follow. When we follow, we melt into Him and His love as we are transformed into Him.

Throughout the bible, God is referred to as a refuge. Standing before the judgement seat of Christ, the only safe place of refuge will be worshipping at the feet of Jesus. Are you there?