Matthew 8:24-27
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” NLT
This was the focus of Joel’s message he gave Saturday at the youth event and he talked about the storms of life. He started by talking about a lighthouse off the coast of Scotland and I instantly knew which one he was talking about. It is one of the oldest standing lighthouses and it is off in rough stormy seas and is constantly beaten by huge waves and storms but yet it still stands because it was built on solid rock. It hit me! The first month of the race God was finishing tearing down the walls around me and I felt like I was just standing there, exposed to everyone. But now God has started the construction of building a stronger and more solid foundation in me. I started to reflect on my life and realized that I had built half way on the sand of the world and when the storms of life hit me I would fall and feel so hopeless. God doesn’t want that for any of us. He wants to be right there beside of us, holding us in His strong and comforting arms but instead we like to look to the world for that comfort; yet we never find it. The word of God always has the answers to our problems and God is always listening when we cry out. John 16:33 says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
So I am standing here exposed and transparent which scares me because I see that I don’t open fully up to people because I don’t know how they will react or see me and I have the fear of rejection. But God has shown me in these past two days that He will never reject me and everything about me is amazing. I am learning how to open up to those around me and letting them see me in every light. Like yesterday, I was feeling lonely and went off to myself to listen to music and started looking up verses about loneliness and God started to show me that some of the reasons that I feel this is because I make the decision not to let others in and I have to just be okay with not being okay. He was telling me, “Yea you are under construction and are going to feel many emotions but you are surrounded by some many people who love you and want to know so much more about what is going on in my head. Just trust them.” He continued to show me this when I had my one-on-one with my squadleader, Dustin Mick, and we talked about how I felt that earlier and what one of my biggest fear is. Dustin Mick helped confirm everything God had been telling me and just helped me realize I am not the only one. My prayer is that I will be like this lighthouse and that I will shine bright into this dark world, even through the storms. Just like Proverbs 10:25 says, “When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.”
“And I will be your lighthouse when you are lost at sea and I will illuminate everything. No need to be frightened by intimacy. No, just throw off your fear and come running to me.” –Steffany Frizzell-Gretzinger Out of Hiding
