The Rain Came

"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. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Matthew 7:24-29

He was so blessed that he had such a beautiful family, how could he now face the prospect of losing his youngest daughter to cancer? The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

Many people responded to the minister as he preached the Gospel, but their new-found faith did not last and they gradually slipped away. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

He made his debut at age seventeen, one of the brightest prospects around. His career was put on hold when he suffered a serious leg injury. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

A man approaching retirement sees the financial crash have such an impact on his future income that he has to continue working for the foreseeable future. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

A woman looking to the future with the man she loves, is suddenly told that he is leaving her. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

Needing three A's to get into her first-choice university, she opens the envelop with not an A in sight. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

Less than a week before they would exchange contract on their dream home, the solicitor rings to say that the purchase has fallen through. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

Their son sits down to tell his parents that he has racked up thousands of pounds worth of debt through online gambling. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

Half way through college, she started a tech company that found a niche in the market. Within five years she was a multi-millionaire before the dot com bubble burst. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house

The rain will always come, there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Having good foundations or bad does not change the reality that the rain will come. The clouds do not move across the sky looking for buildings built on poor foundations. They do not hold back their rain when the see good foundations established. The clouds are arbitrary, the rain will fall where it falls. As has been said, there is nothing you can do to prevent the rain, but there is everything you can do to prepare for it. It is too late to think of your foundations when the storm starts to break, nothing can be done. 

The time to think about foundations is before the beginning of the construction. Foundations are by their very nature, below ground. They cannot be seen from far away, they are not considered in the same way as the rest of the building. Other parts of the building are treated in various ways to be more appealing. They are painted, tiled, plastered, whilst the foundations are purely functional. For any building to remain through the storm, it will require a good foundation 

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.