On Christ the Solid Rock, I’ll Stand

When we come into the presence of God we stand on Holy ground. Holy ground is immovable, it cannot be shaken, it is the most solid ground you will ever stand on

Source:SlideShare

During a recent time of worship at one of our Sunday Services we sang the wonderful worship song ‘I go to the Rock’.  For many days after the service the song kept going around in my head and particularly the following words; ‘When the earth all around is sinking sand on Christ the solid rock I’ll stand, when I need a shelter, when I need a friend I go to the rock’. I was really blessed to be continually reminded of what a magnificent God we serve who gave us Jesus, the Cornerstone that will never be shaken and who provides a firm foundation for those who know Him; Isaiah 28:16 ‘So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic’. I love the way in which the Holy Spirit just drops things into our minds because the words of the song also made me think of foundations and how important they are. I suppose the thought of foundations was not such a surprise for me as I’m a Building Surveyor and I teach about stability and structure to my University students. What is interesting is how God uses our everyday lives, activities and interactions etc. to communicate with us.

An important part of the design of any building is an assessment of the ground conditions to establish what the most appropriate foundation will be. This can be influenced by lots of different things, such as the type and nature of the ground (sandy ground, clay soil, or more solid ground etc.), the amount of water in the ground, contaminants in the ground, such as high levels of sulphates, nitrates etc. Basically, without getting too technical, there is a lot to think about. The whole purpose is to ensure that when built, the foundation will be strong and stable and the building will not move. This can also be related to our Christian journey.  We want to ensure that when times are tough and when our world is being shaken (because it will), when the world seems to be falling apart all around us, that our foundation is strong enough to support us. Praise God He shows us how to build a strong foundation; 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'. Reading and hearing the words of God is important, however what is even more important is being obedient and putting them into practice.

Source: Nan Jones

I have often inspected buildings where cracking had occurred which was a result of ground movement (you may have heard the term subsidence). Some of the damage I have seen was superficial and only required minor repairs however some of the damage was so severe that it required extensive and very expensive remedial works to rectify. In some cases, a building may have been over 100 or 150 years old and had been perfectly stable, without any problems, until recently when something happened in the ground to weaken it to a point where it could no longer take the load of the building and it started moving. On other occasions the buildings were only a few years old but after a very short period of time they had started to move. God used this as an example to show me that even Christians who have been following Jesus for many year can allow the ground to be taken from under their feet as well as demonstrating how vulnerable new Christians are. Satan does not care whether we are a mature Christian or a new Christian, he is always trying to distract us and to take us away from God, however these are precisely the times we should stand on the Rock; Psalm 31:1-5 ‘In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God’.

Following a building inspection it was sometimes necessary to provide additional support to a building’s foundations because the foundation and/or the ground underneath had weakened or failed. One way of doing this was to introduce a new deeper foundation directly underneath the failed foundation to ensure that the building transferred its load back onto solid ground. This is a technique known as ‘underpinning’. Sometimes we might find the ground under our feet is weakening as the challenges of life are continually thrown at us. However at any moment we can go to Jesus, the Rock, who will provide all of the support we need to strengthen us. Jesus is our ‘underpinning’, our Rock and stronghold who will ensure that our foundations will never fail if we call on His name; Psalm 18:2 ‘The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold’.

When we come into the presence of God we stand on Holy ground. Holy ground is immovable, it cannot be shaken, it is the most solid ground you will ever stand on. So, when our lives are being shaken when our world seems to be falling all around our feet then let’s enter the presence of God and stand on the Solid Rock of Christ. Let us protect ourselves by reading God’s Word and applying it in our lives, let us pray, let us seek the counsel of a trusted Christian brother or sister, let us worship and glorify God. All these things will help to bring us into the presence of God and to put our feet on Holy ground which will strengthen our foundation.Let us not build on the sandy foundation of human philosophies and ideas, let us build on the solid foundation of grace and righteousness which is to live by faith in Christ. Amen

Author: Gary O’Neill

May God bless and enrich your life

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