A bulldozer, a backhoe, strong men with shovels.  That’s what it took to expose the foundation of our house.

I wasn’t there to see it, but the family kept me updated with pictures.  You see, an old oil tank buried right next to our family home had started to cause some problems. Problems that needed to be fixed.  So the big equipment came and disrupted everything, creating a lot of noise and commotion and inconvenience.

And when all the dirt was pushed around and finally taken away, we could see the foundation of the house my parents have lived in for 50 years.

It’s a good foundation.  A solid one.   One that held the house up through all kinds of weather, all kinds of storms, summers and winters and autumns and springs.  It’s held up the house that we all grew up in, the house where there were good times and happy times and a few sad ones, too.  But through it all, the foundation has stood firm.

Sometimes we don’t know about the strength of a foundation until it’s exposed.  And sometimes that exposure comes by way of things that disrupt our lives.  And sometimes it can feel like God is allowing the bulldozers to push us around and the backhoes to tear up things we care about.

But when all the pushing and shoving and disruptive work is done, we can see whether or not our foundation is a good one – one strong enough to stand the tests of time and circumstance.

This morning in our Chapel service at school we sang the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”.  And I smiled.  Our family has been disrupted and pushed around a little in recent months, but the condition of our foundation has been revealed.

It’s strong.  And it’s going to stand firm for many years yet to come.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

(from the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”  by John Rippon, 1787)

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. Luke 6:48

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His…”  1 Timothy 2:19

And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;”                         2 Samuel 22:2