Tony Evans
February 7, 2003
10:30 am
Message Summary
Christians want to accomplish great things for God, but they don’t want to go deep with God.” Exploring the passage of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7:24-27, Tony Evans noted that the biggest difference in how one responds to the storms in life is the strength of the foundation. The structures that the wise and foolish men built may have looked similar, but the foundation of sand couldn’t withstand the storm that the foundation of stone did. “Which kind of person are you?” challenged Evans.
To begin, Evans pointed out that these two men had a lot in common. They both had a dream to build a house. They both knew the Scriptures and had heard the words of God. And they were both subjected to the same storm. We too may look the same on the outside. We may look put together and unshakeable, but the rain comes down on everyone. It rained on both the foolish man and the wise man.
This is when you see the differences between these men. “You only discovered who was who and what was what when the storm came,” stated Evans. The word foolish doesn’t mean that the man didn’t have the knowledge. It implies that the man didn’t use the knowledge he had. The wise man wasn’t exceptionally smart, but when he heard the words of God he applied them to his life.
The difference was also apparent in the foundations that were laid. Sandy foundation is cheap and fast. However, a rocky foundation is expensive and takes time. The whole must be dug deep in order pour the foundation that will be strong. Evans used the illustration of a skyscraper. You know how tall the building is going to be by how deep they dig the whole. The higher it’s going to be, the deeper the foundation has to go. How firm is your foundation? You will find out when the storm comes!
Evans promised that this life is going to have storms. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when. So many things in this life (money, relationships, job, spiritual warfare, etc…) have the ability to collapse us. It may seem that the rain is coming in every direction. “But here’s the secret,” whispered Evans, “you can’t pour your foundation when it’s raining. You can pour it before or work on it after, but not during.”
So many people only pray when things start to go bad. They flood the churches when disaster strikes, but it’s impossible to build a strong foundation in the midst of that. You may be in a storm right now, but “if you aren’t in a storm right now, start pouring. One’s coming,” said Evans. God allows these storms in our lives so that you and I can see the kind of foundation we’re standing on.
Turning to Mark 4, Evans recounts the story of Jesus and the disciples on a boat in the midst of a storm. Jesus was asleep as the waves crashed around. Evans points out that Jesus was not only asleep, but that He had a pillow under His head. Jesus had planned to take a nap! The disciples’ circumstances ran into their theology as they shook Jesus awake and asked Him to save them. They did not trust what Jesus had told them before they had left the shore. Jesus said that they were going to the other side of the lake, and that is why Jesus was calmly sleeping.
Oftentimes we look at the circumstances around us and get scared. We forget the words Jesus spoke to us. But when we cry out to Him, He calms the storms. Evans shared the story of a time he and his wife were on a cruise. A great storm came and his wife called the captain to ask why he took them through the storm when there was another way to go. The captain’s assistant called back with a message from the captain that said that the boat was built for that kind of storm and there was no use worrying about it.
Jesus too builds foundations with storms in mind. Our foundation can be deep in Christ and withstand any storm of life if we choose to hear His words and put them into practice. Evans concluded with an illustration of a stand up punching bag. No matter how hard you hit it or kick it, it always pops back up. It does this because there is a strong foundation that makes it stand firm. “If our foundation is deep and heavy,” said Evans, “no matter what Satan does, we’ll keep coming back up."
Student Response
It is easy to get discouraged in the middle of the storms in our lives. And they will come. It doesn’t matter how put together we look on the outside. It doesn’t matter how often we go to church, how many verses we’ve memorized but if we don’t apply those things to our lives, our foundation will be like sand. Let the Words of Christ sink into your soul. He has told us that He will never leave us and that He will see us to the other side. We can’t let our circumstances scare us and make us forget those promises of God. If we fully trust God and seek to go deeper in our relationships with God, we can sleep in the midst of the raging storms. The story of the wise and foolish builders is a challenging reminder—which person are you?
—Allison Hlad, Senior, Communications/Print Media major