Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)
" + "Human beings have tendency to take things for granted. This statement is easily confirmed when reflecting upon the relationships of parents and children. After a long time of dealing with one's parents, one becomes accustomed to hearing the parents' complaints about one's behavior. In such cases, one begins to cease from listening to the things that the parent says. Thus, one may be staring the parent in the face, and not listen to a word that the parent says. More than not, the parent will pick up on this behavior and will say something to the child that will assist the child in regaining proper composure. The parent may ask: "are you listening to me?!!" The child will probably respond "yes sir" or "yes ma'am." In actuality, the child did not listen to anything the parent was saying. The sorrowful aspect of this issue is the fact that the parent may be speaking words that could forever change the child's life, but because of the child's complacency the child has zoned out and ceased from listening.
" + "We as the people of God must learn from this dilemma and reverse it. In the scripture above, we notice Jesus describing two situations where God is speaking to his people. In each case, God speaks and the people seem to hear. They know words are coming out of his mouth but do not respond in the affirmative. They do not respond in such a way that implies that they were really paying attention to the things that God was saying to them. In each case, the person who hears the Lord speaking has a house. The guarantee is that storms will hit the house. There is no changing it. Rains, winds, and all kinds of storms will beat upon the houses. The difference is what the houses are built upon. The key to the structural integrity of each house is the foundation on which they are built. One could assume that each house was in the same place, regionally. One could also assume that each house was composed of the same materials. One must assume that each person who made the house was instructed of the inevitably of inclement weather. Yet, only one of them heeds the words of the Lord. And, in the end, only one house remains standing. The problem is not the fact that the Lord hasn't spoken. That's not the issue. The problem is that only one of the people listened to what the Lord said.
" + "Do we hear the voice of God and actually intend to do what he has told us? Are we listening to the Lord? We must ask ourselves this question as we continue in him. If we take his voice for granted, zoning out on him when he speaks to us, then we indeed are building our house on unsafe grounds. The fact that rains and winds will come to us in life is non-negotiable. Stormy weather is a reality that we cannot escape. What we can do is be fortified when the storms and rains come. The only way this will happen is if we actually do what he has told us to do. The problem is never God. He is never silent when it comes to us. The problem is whether or not we want to do what he says. God Bless.
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