Introduction
Story about the sinkholes. (Taken from Gordon Macdonald’s Ordering your Private World.)
Sinkholes occur because cavities under the ground become exposed. Sinkholes will occur in our lives if we do not keep them ‘filled up.’
I want to talk to you today about a problem I have seen many times as a Christian, and I want to warn you about it because I don’t want to see anyone here fall into the same trap!
I want to talk to you about preparing for a crisis. We all have crises in life:
† Death of a close friend or relative
† Loss of a job
† Loss of our health
† Etc.
These are all things that threaten to cause sinkholes. In Jesus’ words, they are the wind and the rain that threaten to destroy us. Unfortunately, many Christians take the wrong approach when dealing with them. They move away from God, not wanting to come close to him until they’ve got things sorted out. They seem to think that God isn’t interested in them unless they’ve got it together. Not quite right – God specialises in healing broken lives. But God also wants us to be prepared in times of trouble.
How do we protect against these things?
****Forewarned is forearmed!****
Now we all know that these things happen. We don’t usually expect it, although we may have some warning. But, like a lot of nasty things, we don’t worry about them until they happen.
This isn’t a bad way of operating. After all, we’d become nervous wrecks if all we did was worry about these things happening! Nevertheless, we’ve got to be prepared for them.
Several years ago I worked in a factory in Adelaide. If ever an emergency is going to happen, it would happen in a place like that. We had a forklift zipping around everywhere. We had people using dangerous chemicals. We had people using lathes and drills and other sorts of hazardous machinery. We had racks and shelves containing tonnes of steel and other metal. It wasn’t the most pleasant place on earth!
However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t a safe place to work in. We all knew the dangers that surrounded us, and we took steps to make sure accidents didn’t happen. And if one did, we all knew exactly what we had to do.
Everyone knew who to ring if somebody got injured. We all knew who the first aiders were. We all knew where the telephones were in case we had to ring an ambulance or fire engine. We all knew where we had to go if there was a fire. And we also knew that if there was a fire that the fire extinguishers worked, and that there were always people around who knew how to use them. Our bosses believed that it was more important to get employees home every night in one piece than to get products out to customers. If a crisis happened, we were ready.
Are we ready if a crisis occurs in our life? The trick here is to plan ahead. Jesus says the only sure way to get through a crisis is to build your life on his words. That way when the winds and the rain come, you’ll be ready. Let’s look at these two gentlemen now.
**William the Wise Man**
William knew a thing or two, and he wasn’t afraid to show it! What did he do that proved to save his life? He made sure his house had a foundation! He built on the words of Jesus Christ.
In other words, he applied the teaching of Jesus to his life. And he could only do that by studying it and doing it.
**Fred the Foolish Man**
You can just see Fred now, can’t you? Now he was cluey enough to build a house. He wasn’t a stupid person. But he was foolish. If you’re clever enough to build a house, you must be pretty dumb if you forget to build a proper foundation. I wonder what he said to people who asked him about it?
† Storms? I’ll worry about it when the time comes.
† Well, you know, I didn’t quite have the money. Give me five years and I should be able to back it up somehow.
† Why worry about storms? Look at the view I’ve got!
None of these excuse are really all that clever, are they? He’s thought about everything except what could go wrong.
Yet Christians frequently use similar excuses for not getting their spiritual lives in order.
† Crisis? I’ll worry about it at the time. Everything’s going so well for me now!
† I’m not in a position to begin spiritual exercise. Things (kids, work, sickness, whatever) might be different in a few years.
Now these are common things! The storms that happen in life aren’t going to care, though.
****How do we get ready?****
Simply, we’ve got to do what the wise man did – build our lives on the words of Jesus, and put them into practice. How do we do that?
First, we must apply them to ourselves. We’ve got to study them, and make a conscious decision to live by them.
This means we’ve got to study the Bible. We’ve got to know what it says.
We begin this by reading it! And we read it regularly. You might choose to read for so long every day – five minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour – everyone’s different. Or you may choose to read so many chapters a day or a week, or whatever. You might have a set plan to follow, or you might have some other way of deciding what to read. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. But don’t short change yourselves, either. As you grow, you may find you need to read more every day. You may also find you need to read less! Just like our appetite for food changes through our lives, so does our appetite for spiritual food.
It is important that you plan to do it. Don’t just fit it in wherever you can – make it a priority. Now I hate being told how to prioritise my life, and if anyone does, I’ve tend to ignore them. But don’t ignore this! Building a strong foundation for a house is always a priority. Don’t neglect your spiritual foundation!
When should you do it? Lots of well meaning Christians will tell you the best time and place to do it. Some say morning, others say afternoon, others say just before you go to bed – I say find out the best time for you. It’s pointless getting up early in the morning if you simply can’t function at that time of day, or if the kids insist on getting up at the same time as you and running amok. Find a time and a place that works. The important thing is to stick to it!
Reading the Bible is good, but it is important that it is done with a view to strengthening our spirits. In other words, we’ve got to apply it to ourselves. As Jesus said, we’ve got to put his words into practice. Ask yourself if you measure up to what Jesus says. For example, when he says, ‘Love your enemies,’ ask yourself if you love your enemies! Do you? If you do, good. If you don’t, it’s time to do something about it! And this is the challenging part.
As well as reading the Bible, be in prayer. Talk to God about what you are reading. Does this apply to me? Is there an area of my life which needs work? God knows what you need. And he also knows how to deal with you. Through this process of reading and reflection, God builds you. He changes you. In other words, he strengthens your foundation. And if you let him change you, it will be reflected in your life, day to day.
****Conclusion****
I have said this today because I am concerned for you. I’m not thinking of anyone in particular, so please don’t think I’m picking on you! I simply want to alert you to the importance of nurturing your spiritual life, so when things do get tough, you don’t fall apart.
