Solid Ground

I do not have a specific story to relate here, it just seems like some weeks you hear a lot more about sad and unhappy occurrences than usual...this has been one of them. Sometimes there is a quick fix...but often times not....and we have to have faith that Christ is using whatever the situation is that has landed among us on on us for His glory.

We are hit every day with stories of tragedy, stories of violence, stories that have a tendency to completely unravel our worlds, and bend our hearts or tightly twist us our of our comfort zones. They come at us like an flaming arrow. Some we are able to dodge and some come so close to home that we feel the heat as if we ourselves are on fire and melting from the flames.

You never know where the hits are going to come from and sometimes they just seem to keep on coming with no break. It seems like the older I get the more I realize how important it is to be standing on solid ground ...ground that I know will not falter... even if things all around me are in chaos. I think we do get wiser as we get older. It seems like the older we get the bigger the world around us gets...Oh, I know we continually say what a small world but this is in a different context.

For so many times we have been so wrapped up in our own small worlds that the things of this world that are happening that are tragic and scary have not hit close enough to home to get our attention...then one day it does. Someone you love has a tragic accident, or an serious illness takes the reigns of someone dear. Maybe you are seeing a marriage relationship of friends severed or a long time friendship dissolved, or have found yourself in the middle of unchartered unwanted territory. As we get older...we are required to face bigger problems and greater challenges. We can't dodge them because they are too big and too in our faces. Our only hope for survival and wisdom is to find solid ground from which to draw the strength and solution...and the stamina to pursue what has been sent our way.

What is 'solid ground?'...It is a foundation that we can depend on that doesn't waver or cave in or shift or turn to mush. Ground that is so solid and concrete that is has steadfast endurance and is resistant to any hit no matter how hard or how intentionally destructive it may appear to be. Solid ground is trusted ground and tested ground and holds up under any circumstance. Solid ground does not fall apart when high winds blow through or deteriorate when the rains come rushing down. It remains in tact, preserved and unruffled. So how do I get to solid ground? Simply by asking and having faith, true faith, that God will give you what you have asked for. He will be the solid ground you are searching for. God does not waver or cave in or shift or cowl in the midst of fear. He is the authority over all things and there is nothing that can penetrate his solid character, or change Him into being anything but good.

Have you ever been on one of those bridges that has rope sides and wooden plank bottoms. When you walk on it...it sways...and maintains anything but a steady, solid base. The planks sway with the wind and on every step wobble to and fro....and there is very little assurance on the route except for the tight grip that you have on the rope railing. Without God as our base, our steady ground, our lives are much like that wooden planked bridge. We are holding on...but there is no real solidity in the path that we are following, who we are or where we will end up. We are living one uncertain step at a time whether we realize it or not.

Solid ground is a solid foundation of the love that Christ has for each of us. For it is through His love that everything originates...His forgiveness, His grace, His mercy, His blessings, His favor...everything. We are able to stand on an unwavering foundation of love because it was God who first laid that foundation of love ...he first loved us(1 John 4:19)...and his love withstands all things. It withstands hatred, rejection, animosity, cruelty, anger, resentment ...etc.. God's love is the very foundation that is guaranteed to not waver, or cave in or shift or turn mushy.

2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

The following quote is simply stated about solid ground and a firm foundation.
Our faith needs to be founded firmly upon this fact that all of God's dealings with us are based upon His love. The words "He will rest in his love " in Zephaniah 3:17, have been translated: "He is silently planning for you in love." Do we realize that every single thing that God allows to enter into our lives comes from a heart that is planning for us in love? Every trial and problem that has come into your life and mine has been planned for our ultimate good. When He crushes our plans, it is in order to save us from missing His best. We may not be able to understand it fully on earth, but if only we realized that there are no second causes, but that everything comes from the hands of a loving God, it would take away all the worries and fears and hard thoughts that normally plague us. It is because believers are not firmly established upon this truth that these anxieties and cares arise in their minds, and they remain strangers to the "peace of God that passeth understanding". Love - The Basis Of All God's Dealings With Man by Zac Poonen

When our hearts and minds are firmly planted on solid ground...we are able to withstand all the torrents of life with confidence because we know that we are standing on the unwavering love of God....and with God by our side we are able to have the strength and power to proceed with whatever comes our way. The older that we get, the more challenges we are thrown ...and solid ground is the way for us to maintain a peace in the midst of chaos.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the firm foundation of love that you have set and made available for us. May we find that solid ground and stand firm when the waves of life come barreling through. Let us be confident that whatever and whenever something happens that you are with us to guide us and give us the strength and the wisdom to approach it. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!