Flooding

Isaiah 33: 6,20,22

“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”

“Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.”

“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.”

We had a work weekend at my brother-in-law’s place. Four of us showed up to clear brush, get the deer blinds ready, and make sure all the overgrowth was cut away just in time for hunting season. Armed with a pole saw, chainsaws, and large clippers we all headed out. The ones with the tractors mowed the over grown grass and the rest of us were off to clear the brush. Checking on all the blinds, I found one of the blinds was laid on its side like it had been pushed over. Shocked, I studied the scene and realized that the deer blind had been transported 100 yards down the fence line from where it was before. In the spring the whole place was flooded and must have lifted up the blind and floated it all the way to where it was found that day. We all underestimated the power of the water.

Have you ever been in a place were the foundation of your life is shaky, unstable, and might be very dangerous? If you read the verses above, Isaiah is prophesying that the Lord is the sure foundation for our times. He is a rich store of salvation and wisdom. When your foundation is weak, the first thing I am looking for is to be on solid ground. Life has it ways of flooding, just like when the spring rains flooded the ranch. It can be overwhelming, moving things in your life you thought were so grounded that you could trust in them no matter what. It is hard to watch when the flood of life begins to move those grounded things. If we put our trust in the Lord he will be the storehouse of salvation, wisdom and knowledge we have been looking for.

Verse 20 tells us that the Lord’s tent will not be moved. Its stakes will never be pulled up or any of its ropes broken. Back to the deer blind. Picture yourself in the blind when water started rise. Not a big deal until the water gets so high that it starts to move the blind and the whole thing starts to float.

Some of us have chosen to put our trust in things that the Bible tells us is folly and foolish. That boyfriend, that job, the bank account, or the retirement portfolio. It could be a number of things that we seem to build or climb into when our trust in not in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” It is only then that the we will have the “peaceful abode.”

The last verse above is a key one. For us American’s we have a certain amount of bravado and pride in our government. I understand it can be corrupt and up to devious things but millions of American’s still go to the polls and cast their vote having faith in the system rather than the people in the governmental body. We seem to forget that the founding fathers of this county were born again disciples of Jesus Christ and our constitution is patterned after the government described in the Bible.

So for us as a disciples of Jesus Christ, the Lord is our judge, lawgiver, and king and because of this we look to Him to save us. We fall back on the infallible word of God that binds all those offices together like a tightly woven robe. Our government only works while under the guidance of Godly men, its very structure becomes corrupt when ungodly people hold important offices. We all need to vote with our Bible and not our feelings.

We ended up putting the deer blind back to where it came from, but it took some work and ranch engineering. We can rebuild the ladder that got smashed and broken. We can even screw together some of panels back and it will hunt no problem. When the flood of life has uprooted your the repair process is not so simple. One thing I can say is the with the Lord, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Prayer: Father, too often we see the flood coming and forget about the foundation we have in you. I pray today that we build our houses, our lives, our minds, our emotions, and all other aspect of our our lives on the rock of Jesus Christ. in Jesus name, amen.