I was walking on water. An easy thing to do on a frozen lake. The digits on the thermometer revealed a chilling temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. The lake was a solid layer of ice and snow – except for the spot where I would plunge into its freezing water. (Yes, the picture with this post is the actual spot!)
It’s tough to stand firm on a shifting base like water. Liquid makes no promises and changes like a chameleon.
Life is like that. You know it.
Anxious and Afraid
When we place our strength and confidence in the shifting waters of health, wealth, jobs, government, celebrities, technology, education, or people, we have reason to be anxious and afraid.
Living whole does not mean living trouble-free. Without a doubt, we, or someone we love, experiences a health crisis, loses a job, fails a course, or gets a divorce. We watch faith leaders and entertainment icons fall.
We need a foundation that does not collapse beneath our feet when circumstances change.
A Firmer Foundation
The apostle Paul offers an alternative to hope and wholeness based on a shifting foundation. In the short book of Ephesians, Paul warns us about the spiritual forces of evil that seek to take us down. But first he introduces us, repeatedly, to a foundation of grace in Christ.
In Ephesians 1:6, Paul writes of a grace graced (freely given) to us through Christ. He uses the word grace 12 times in the six chapters of his book.1 Clearly, God’s grace mattered to Paul, who dragged Christ followers to prison before his own life-transforming encounter with Jesus.2 He recognized his desperate need for grace and calls for us to do the same.
My Rescue
My husband rescued me when I cried for help. He heard my pitiful screams and raced to haul my struggling, frozen body from a watery grave. Miraculously, the lake supported our combined weight for those precarious seconds that it took to rescue me. Also miraculous, was our ability to run to shore and then back down the lakeside trail to the refuge of our car.
I won’t put my confidence in frozen water again.
Saved by Grace
And in life, I know it is by grace I am saved, through faith. Circumstances are not the foundation on which I stand, nor do they define me. When life is tough and I need to be reminded of those truths in a culture that says otherwise, I return to the words of Ephesians and to grace, again and again.
Let’s build our lives on the foundation of God’s grace. We’ll find wholeness there. It is the foundation for every inSPIRE® journey.
Join the Conversation
1 – Recall an experience when faith provided a firm foundation, despite the waters of your life collapsing beneath your feet. You can share in the comments.
2 – Who else do you know that you can encourage by sharing your firm-foundation faith story?
5 Responses
So true that putting your trust in health, wealth, job, or whatever earthly comfort you can name just doesn’t always cut it. My husband is a healthy, active on-the-go guy in his late sixties, so when he complained of chest pains while we were visiting an overseas developing country, I brushed it off as his celiac reaction reaction to a ‘gluten-full’ food he must have eaten the night before. But when the medics confirmed was he actively having a heart attack, my world started spinning. Country on the other side of the world, foreign language, city of 9 million people, 8 million motorbikes, rush hour traffic. Everything became a blur for the next while. But when God is your firm foundation, He walks the walk with you. As a matter of fact he carries you when you can’t seem to walk anymore. My husband did indeed get to the hospital in time and they performed the life saving surgery he required. Life will bring the unexpected but knowing that my firm foundation is God our loving Heavenly Father, means He will always be with me. Always.
Thanks for sharing your personal story with us! I am so glad that with God, “always” means “always” with us.
Oh what an experience you had! So glad you are ok. It’s such a reassurance when we know we can trust him no matter what! I’ve had several occasions when I’ve had to cry out to him. One was when my husband broke his back in an accident and was laid up for a few months. Not only did I have his care but also all the working of our farm, and I’m NOT a farmer. I had to rely on him many times during those challenging days and he in his mercy he always came through.
I remember that time, Shirley. Many people were praying when we could not be there to help you farm, and prayer matters!
It was the prayers that kept us going!!!!