In case you didn’t know, I have a bit of a HGTV problem. Of the four television stations I watch on a consistent basis, this one probably gets the bulk of my time. Mostly, I’m slightly addicted to one of my good friends’ (in my head) shows. That would be Fixer Upper. Yes, I’m almost positive that if Joanna Gaines and I met in real life, we could click! But considering HGTV can’t run a consistent loop of all five seasons with the Gaines family, I’ll take House Hunters as an alternative. Even though, I generally watch that one to figure out how a part-time apple picker and full-time kindergarten teacher can afford a 1.2 million dollar budget for a home. It leaves me perplexed, but that’s not important here.
Through my myriad number of home improvement shows, I consider myself something like a specialist these days. The same way WebMD made me a medical professional, HGTV made me a contractor and interior designer (sarcasm y’all). Now, in my extensive knowledge of home building (more sarcasm), I’ve noticed that nothing ruins an episode faster than discovering an amazing and beautiful home has a crappy foundation. Anytime that an imperfection is uncovered in that area, there is an immediate investigation to understand the level of damage and how it can be repaired. From that moment, everyone involved stops production on all other projects and all attention is placed on creating a solid foundation. Because they all know that if the foundation isn’t sound, the beauty of the home won’t matter…when it falls apart.
The wonderful people at HGTV know that a sturdy foundation is the key to everything.
But how did we miss that memo?
Here’s what I mean by that. So often we put time and effort into building our perfect life. We go to the right schools, we get the right jobs, we wear the right clothes, and we marry the right person…but all as decoration. Honestly, how often do we assess our foundation to make sure we can sustain all that we’ve dreamed? How often do we pause to evaluate that shaky feeling we have when moving towards our next goal?
For me, the answer was not often (okay, not at all). I was goal orientated and competitive (okay, I still am) in my thought process. I couldn’t let anyone beat me. Beat me to where, you ask? I have no idea, but I knew I needed to get there first. I just wanted to be “there.” I wanted to understand all this purpose stuff that I heard other people reference. But more importantly, I still wanted to get “there” fast and first.
"Because if you’re not first, you’re last." - Ricky Bobby, Talladega Nights.
Y’all, Ricky Bobby was wrong (about a lot of things actually) and so was I. The more I sought out what I was supposed to “do”, God kept the focus on who I needed to “be.” Now, this wasn’t the first time the idea of me learning how to “be” came up in my life, but I’m stubborn, we’ve talked about this. I didn’t listen the first time and if there was any way to avoid it, I would have most likely not listened when God said it again (just being honest). But I did and He gave me probably the simplest prayer of my life, “please don’t let my ambition take me anywhere my character won’t sustain me.”
“Please don’t let my ambition take me anywhere my character won’t sustain me.”
First of all, OUCH! Second of all, I thought I was pretty solid. But the more I prayed that prayer, the more God showed me defects in my foundation. Some were minor cracks, others were gaping holes, but it all needed work. And much like my favorite shows on HGTV, I halted work on the decorations to build a solid foundation.
And this is the story for many of us. We know the foundation we have won’t support the weight that’s coming. We know the foundation we have doesn’t support the weight that’s present now. But we’re slow to fix it because we’re afraid of missing out, afraid of disappointing others, or afraid to look and see how much work there is to be done. All of these are very real reasons. But I ask, are any of these good enough reasons to watch your entire home (life) fall to pieces in the future?
Homes built on poor foundations eventually crumble. Whether it takes a week or a decade, poor foundations always fall apart, taking everything built on that foundation down with it.
Question of the Day:
How can your foundation be made more solid today?
Encouraging Verses:
Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw. And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work; the fire will test it and show its real quality. If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 GNT
“So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. “But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”
Matthew 7:24-27 GNT
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