A straw house. The type of house that the Big Bad Wolf would easily blow down. Made of sticks and twigs. It’s not steady, its built on a weak, cracked foundation. Standing outside you can see in, with holes and spaces the wind and rain can easily get through. This house is me. When the storms come, I get blown over. I get knocked over. I break.
Now, picture this. A house made of bricks. The kind that the Big Bad Wolf could not ever blow down. A foundation that is wide and deep, no cracks, no blemishes. As you stand outside you cannot see in, the walls are solid, this house was built to last. This house is God. As the storm comes the house is not effected, God is not effected. The rain will not enter, the wind has no power. He will not be shaken.
Season change often, we can’t avoid cold winters and hot summers and in the same way we can’t avoid the good times and the bad times.
I find comfort in this: as the storms come, and they will, we sit in the middle of that concrete house. I cannot promise that house will have AC in the summer, or a fireplace in the winter. There may not be marble floors and a king-sized bed to sleep in. But this house is a safe place. This house will not shake during the day; this house will not shake during the night. It may not be comfortable; in fact, I can promise at times it’ll be uncomfortable, but this house will not be shaken.
I picture myself in that straw house, laying in the center in the fetal position. The storm comes, and I lay, helpless. The roof falls down, the dirt floors are quickly becoming mud, and I am stuck. Even after the storm ends there is clean up that needs to happen. It becomes time to rebuild the walls, and start over again. This cycle is never ending, if I’m not in the storm, I am fixing the damage that the past storm brought until a new storm knocks me over again.
That concrete house will not be shaken. When the winds pick up, when life starts to get hectic, I lay in the middle of that house, protected. I can see the storm going on around me, I can hear the rain and I notice the winds, but I am protected, we are protected. This house is free; God is welcoming you in with a colorful doormat covered in flowers that says “welcome home”.
Be encouraged today. You do not have to take on the storms of life alone. Stop trying to build your own house out of twigs and straw, but trust in the one who is strong. Life will happen, seasons will change, storms will come. My God is strong, and he will not be shaken.
