Solid as a Rock

In order to build a relationship that lasts, that is as solid as a rock, it must be built on trust.  What I mean by this is that your relationship must be based on an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone. And ya don’t just trust someone over night; it takes evidence, patience and time. Evidence is factored by everything that you can gather to determine who this person is. It is studying their thoughts, words and actions and you must put in the work to build the relationship so that overtime you see their thoughts words and deeds and can take all of this evidence you have found to truly evaluate if this person deserves to be trusted; that’s where the patience and time comes in :-).  So if we are going to trust, it definitely takes getting to know absolutely everything about the person and after you are assured as to who this person is and ya like what ya see, you then move into an area that really becomes the glue to which relationship are formed; trust.  It is then that you can build the trust that is needed in order to make a relationship as solid as a rock.

To take this a step further, if we are going to Focus on Faith we must eventually ask what is faith? Faith really is a belief in, or trust in somebody or something.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. – Hebrews 11:1

So how do we believe in something or someone we cannot see? Well I have heard an example that may help us here….. when you go to the bank to deposit a check, you are taking a step of faith. You really have no guarantee that there are funds to back up that check, and yet you are presenting it to your bank on faith that you will get money from that check. Things that make ya say…Hmmm. As a matter of fact there are tons of ways that we must believe in things we cannot see and what do we use to base our belief when we can’t see? It is evidence. In this example you believe the person that gave you the check is good for the money, unless their behavior has said something different right? If they have been bouncing checks from here to Mississippi, then ya know that chances are you should not trust them that the check can be cashed without bouncing.  BUT if this person has given you the evidence, proof, verification and/or confirmation of character on which to base your belief…then ya trust them right? How do you TRULY have a relationship if ya can’t trust the person. I know it would drive me CRAZY if I felt like I always had to check my husbands cell phone or pager to make sure he was not cheating on me…if you have no trust, your relationship is not built on a solid foundation. It is from this foundation that all other fundamental components of your relationship is built. So if you are going to focus on faith, you must first trust.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3: 5 & 6

So after you feel like you know God for yourself and you have this relationship, the hardest part to do is learning to let go and let God. What this really means is that in every decision, plan or choice we seek God’s counsel or advice or sometimes we just have to wait until we hear a word as to what to do. isn’t that what ya do when you are in relationsip withsomeone?  When you are doing something that will ultimatley affect them, aren’t they a part of the decision that you make?  Well our very lives affects God after all He did make us and in seeking Him, you are looking to ask Him, “hmmm…so what would YOU say that I should do about this?” Much like you would of that parent or mate.  Asking your mom’s advise about this or that and you do that because you know your mom or auntie or whoever you seek advise from is not going to steer you in the wrong direction…well neither will God! Matter of fact, He will give you better advise than anyone else, including yourself because He can see what is happening tomorrow while you are still in today.

It also means, whatever you are dealing with or going through ACKNOWLEDGE Him. Acknowledging Him means accepting that all these things that are happening are a part of God’s plan for you and that all things work together for the good. Yes even the bad stuff. So if you can just hang in their, you will eventually see God’s plan for you. Here’s an example. Have you seen the Ray Charles movie? Well in the beginning of the movie Ray Charles as a little boy is just beginning to go blind and he falls down and starts crying for his mother to help him (or something like that). His mother is right there in the room but she knows that the only way her blind son is going to make it in this world is for him to learn to get up for himself.  So Ray’s mom sits silently crying watching her son struggle. Watching him struggle newly blind trying to navigate his surroundings and little Ray does eventually get up on his own. Why does she do this? So that all things will work together for the good. So that Little Ray can learn how to find his way without anyone having to help him. His mother is looking at his future and not where he is right then.  So why is it so easy for us to worry or get anxious and to not trust that even in the hard times God is at work for our good and just trust Him? Are we saying that we really don’t believe that God cares about us like a mother would for her child? For just as that mother did for her child, God has shown His love for us and how He really does take care of everything little thing in our lives.  God really works best when we trust Him; if we can let go and let God; let God drive the ship instead of us trying to take the wheel. Now if we are stubborn about something, He will let us do it, but then we want to blame Him when it does not go right! Instead as you build or renew your relationship, your challenge this week is to really begin to trust Him and it is out of the trust that you build a relationship that is solid as a rock. It is in this place that you can see how every event works together for YOUR good.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” – Matthew 7:24 & 25

Here are a few words from an old time hymn I used to sing in church when I was little…

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.