Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Deal With the Storms of Life

Episode Date: March 16, 2020

"What I want you to see is the storms were not responsible for the house collapsing." No matter what stage of life you're in right now, you know that life isn't perfect. You've been through tough times, and you know they're not all behind you. More trials will come your way. How do you prepare for storms in advance? How do you deal with them in the moment? Jesus teaches us how to do both in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+6.46-49&version=NIV (Luke 6.46-49). It's a short story but full of lessons. Find out what they are from Keith as he continues our series on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/how-to-follow-jesus/ (Learning to Follow Jesus). Interested in more content like this? Hear how Mary dealt with trials in this episode on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcasts/mary-mother-of-jesus-learning-to-follow-jesus-luke-128-38/ (How to Give Your Life to God When It Feels Impossible). To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (Facebook), https://www.facebook.com/TheCrossingCOMO (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO.  Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're learning how to follow Jesus by working our way through the Gospel of Luke. In 2008, Hurricane Ike ripped through Galveston, Texas. It was a category 4 hurricane and the winds measured at 143 miles per hour. As you can imagine, the pictures afterwards showed utter devastation, homes, neighborhoods, commercial centers, malls, stadiums, all flattened.

Except for one yellow house, it remained standing. Investigators determined that that house had been damaged an earlier storm, so that the owners had rebuilt it to hurricane standards. And when Ike unleashed its fury, the house remained standing when everything else was wiped out. Storms sweep through all of our lives. I want to build the life that withstands the storms. that come my way. Now that little yellow house that withstood the storm in Galveston, it looked like all the other houses on the block. If you would have walked through the neighborhood, you would not have

been able to pick it out as the house that was going to last. Which people can withstand the storms of life? If you were to walk through church on a Sunday morning, is it obvious which people would be left standing after they faced a terrible, difficult trial? Do they have a little halo over their head? Do they have a certain glow about them? Do they carry big Bibles or have the self-control to resist the donuts? Who withstands the storms? Well, that takes us to Luke chapter 6 and a parable that Jesus tells to close out that chapter. Here's how it starts in Luke 6 verse 46. Jesus is speaking and he asks, why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man

building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house, but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Now this parable is about two guys, two guys that are building a home. And they have a lot in common. For example, they both share the same desire. They both want to build a house. And of course, in this parable, the building of a house is a picture of building a life. And both men listen to the same teaching. See, they didn't just have the same desire to build a life, but they went to the same

church and read from the same Bible and had the same teacher, namely Jesus. Jesus said, they heard his words. They both like listening to Jesus. They thought he had good insights, that he was an interesting teacher. It's not like one knew their Bible well and the other couldn't find their Bible. Both had the same vision. They both wanted to build a life and they both had the same instructor teaching them God's truth. And they both faced the same storm.

See, the description of the storm is precisely the same in both cases and it affected both men. See, all of us desire to build a life. We all hear the same words from Jesus. We all face difficulties and hardships. While these two men have a lot in common, they are also different in some important ways. For example, these two men had different foundations. That's the only difference in the houses, is that it's all about the foundation. Jesus said one built on a foundation of rock and the other didn't have a foundation.

or as Matthew puts it, they built on the foundation of sand. So they had the same vision, they listened to the same teaching, they faced similar storms, but again they don't have the same foundation. Now building on sand or building without a foundation, it goes quickly. It's pretty cheap to build that way. And to build a foundation on a rock, that takes time and costs money. The problem is that the house that's built on the sand, the house that doesn't have a foundation doesn't stand up against the storms of life.

And that's why these two builders experienced really different results. The biggest contrast between the two men and their houses they built is that when the storms came, one house stood and one fell. What can we learn from this parable and apply to our life? Well, first, we want to build our life on the rock. Now, what's that mean? and how do we do it? Well, the key phrase in the parable is puts them into practice.

See, what distinguishes these two men building these two houses is not hearing Jesus' teaching. They both hear it. What distinguishes them is obeying it because while they both hear his teaching, only one of them puts his teaching into practice. Only one obeys Jesus. Unfortunately, this convicts me.

oftentimes I know the truth, but I don't obey what I know. How do you read your Bible? How do you listen to a sermon or maybe attend a small group? Jesus says that you're foolish if you hear his words and don't put them into practice. Second, the storm reveals the foundation our life is built on. The only time you had really discovered the difference between these two men and the lives they built were during the storms of life see only the storms reveal the foundation as long as the sun is shining you won't think about what your life is built on but when the storms come well that's when the foundation is revealed what I want you to see is the storms were not responsible for the

house collapsing it only revealed the foundation the house collapsed the life collapsed because it wasn't built on the foundation of God's Word. Third, we've got to build our foundation before the storm comes. You can't pour a foundation when it's raining. When you get laid off work and can't find a job, when your spouse tells you they're leaving, when your daughter is diagnosed with cancer, when your husband has a heart attack,

when you find out your son is experimenting with drugs, that's not the time to build the foundation. You can put off a lot of things. You can put off changing your oil or picking up your dry cleaning or cleaning your house or mowing your lawn, but don't put off building your life on a solid foundation. Fourth, Jesus can withstand the storm. Tony Evans is an older preacher,

and he tells a story about taking a cruise with some of his friends to Alaska. and on the way back a storm hit and the waves he said were 50 feet high plates were flying everywhere pianos were rolling across the room people were getting sick his wife got angry and she picked up a phone and she asked to speak to the captain and the person who answered the phone said the captain was a little busy and couldn't talk right then she said that she wanted this person to let the captain know that she was very upset that he put them through this and that he should have known it was coming and he should have avoided this storm. So she was just officially registering her complaint.

A few minutes later, her phone rang and it was the assistant to the captain. He said, ma'am, we've just received your message. It was relayed to the captain, and he asked me to call and relay two things to you. First of all, relax, because the captain is at the helm and there's no need and both of you worrying. The second thing was this ship was built with this storm in mind. Long before we ever hit the storm, we knew this day was going to come. We knew there was going to be a day when we would face nature at its most vicious level. So way back when we were putting this boat together, we contemplated this moment. And this boat was structured in such a way that on whatever day this storm came, while it would be inconvenient, irritating, and aggravating,

while it would be traumatic to go through, what you need to know is that all of this was considered when this boat was constructed. So while the storm is bad, the boat is better. I don't know what storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes you will face. I don't know what trials and difficulties and challenges that you'll face. Maybe you're just coming out of one or you're in one now or one is around the corner waiting for you.

But this I do know. Jesus was built with your storm in mind. I wish I could tell you that if you hear God's word and put it into practice, it means that there would be no storms in your life. But that's a lie. Nothing could be farther from the truth. But what I can tell you is this. While the storm is bad, the boat is better. While the storm is bad, Jesus is better.

A life built on Jesus. will be left standing long after the storm is gone. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.