Building on the Rock: What Happens When Your Foundation Starts to Erode

Gethsemane Church

Sep 18

7 min read

Life will bring storms. That is not a question of if, but when. The real question is whether you will still be standing when they arrive. Based on the parable of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7, here is a closer look at what it means to build your life on a foundation that holds.

What Does the Bible Say About Building on a Solid Foundation?

"Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its fall." - Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus told this story near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, after three chapters of teaching on the Kingdom of God, prayer, forgiveness, worry, and how to treat others. Two builders. Two houses. One storm. Two very different outcomes. The difference was not the storm. It was the foundation.

Does Spiritual Decline Happen All at Once?

Foundations Do Not Usually Collapse. They Erode.

A building does not wake up one day and decide to be weak. Deterioration happens slowly. A little water gets in the wrong place. A little soil washes away. A crack forms, something shifts, something weakens, and then something gets ignored. What looked strong on the outside is no longer strong underneath.

The same is true spiritually. People do not usually walk away from God in one dramatic moment. It happens little by little.

A little compromise here
A little less prayer there
A little less worship
A little less time in the Word
A little more of the world

And eventually, what used to convict you does not convict you anymore. What used to break your heart does not break your heart anymore. You look around and ask, "How did I get here?"

Ecclesiastes 10:1 puts it this way: "Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment." Something small can contaminate something very valuable. Song of Solomon 2:15 adds, "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines." It is not always the lions and the bears that destroy what God is building. Sometimes it is the little things we have decided are not a big deal.

Is Everything Allowed Actually Good for You?

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." - 1 Corinthians 10:23

We spend a lot of time debating what is and is not a sin. But sometimes the better question is not "Is this a sin?" It is "Is this helping me become who God wants me to become?" Not everything you could do is something you should do. If you are going to build something that lasts, you have to pay attention to the little things.

Why Does the Bible Tell Us to Guard Our Hearts?

You Have to Learn What Not to Give Your Attention To

"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." - Proverbs 4:23

That word "keep" means to guard, protect, and watch over. What gets access to your heart matters. We live in a world where everyone wants your attention. Everyone has an opinion, a platform, something to post, something to say. But you do not have to give everything your attention.

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." - Philippians 4:8

Think of it this way. You are sitting at home, comfortable, and the doorbell rings. Someone at the door wants to tell you what they think about you. You listen. You close the door. A few minutes later, the bell rings again. Then again. And again. Before long, you have spent your whole day standing at the door listening to everyone who decided to stop by.

But who told you that you had to answer the door?

Just because someone knocks does not mean you have to answer
Just because someone posts something does not mean you have to respond
Just because someone is angry does not mean you have to be angry
Just because someone wants to argue does not mean you have to participate

God gave you the responsibility to guard that door. Some people are exhausted and keep asking God why He keeps putting these burdens on them. But God keeps asking, "Why do you keep opening the door?"

The enemy does not always have to destroy you. Sometimes he just has to distract you. If he can keep you distracted long enough, you will not have enough attention left for God.

What Happens When You Keep Feeding Negative Things?

What You Feed Will Grow

"Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." - Galatians 6:7

Every day you are planting something. Every thought, conversation, habit, attitude, word, and choice is a seed. Think of two plants. One gets sunlight and water every day. The other gets nothing. You do not have to hate the second plant or attack it. You just have to ignore it, and eventually it will die.

The same is true spiritually:

Feed bitterness, and bitterness grows
Feed fear, and fear grows
Feed lust, and lust grows
Feed insecurity, and insecurity grows
Feed faith, and faith grows
Feed the Word of God, and it will grow in your heart
Feed prayer, and your relationship with God will grow

The question is not only what you are allowing into your life. It is also what you are feeding.

Why Does It Matter What You Build Before the Storm Hits?

When the Storm Comes, What Has Been Built Inside You Will Matter

The storm reveals what you have been building. Pressure always reveals what is inside of you. You do not build your foundation when the storm comes. You build it before the storm comes.

You do not wait for temptation to arrive before you decide what you will do when it does. You do not wait until your marriage is in trouble before you start building your marriage. You do not wait until your faith is weak before you start building your faith. There are some things you simply cannot build in the middle of a storm.

Trees with deep roots do not fear the storm. When you plant your roots next to the water, they grow deep. And it is the roots, not the storm, that hold the tree up. When your roots are not deep, every wind feels like a hurricane.

"Blessed is the man... like a tree planted by the rivers of water." - Psalm 1:1-3

You need roots in the Word of God. Roots in prayer. Roots in worship. Roots in the presence of God. Roots in regular church attendance. Roots in truth. Because eventually the wind is going to blow.

What Should You Ask Yourself If You Feel Distant from God?

Ask Yourself: What Have I Allowed to Erode Me?

When you feel distant from God, you can usually look back and see somewhere you stopped doing something, or started doing something you did not used to do. Some honest questions worth sitting with:

Where did I get off the path?
What did I stop doing that I used to do?
What did I start doing that I used to not do?
What have I normalized that I used to be convicted about?
What have I been feeding?
What relationship has been pulling me away from Jesus?
What have I allowed access to my heart that does not belong there?

God is not trying to make your life smaller. He is not standing in heaven wondering how much He can keep you from doing. He loves you too much to let you destroy what He has been building in your life. God promised an abundant life, a life full of joy. He is trying to protect what He has been building in you.

Is It Too Late to Rebuild Your Foundation?

It is not too late. Maybe you have built the wrong way. Maybe you have made choices you wish you could take back. Maybe you have wandered farther than you ever thought you would. Maybe you have been spiritually cold or neglected your prayer life. It is not too late.

The rock has not moved. You may have moved, but the rock has not. You may have wandered, but the rock has not wandered. You may have failed, but the rock has never failed.

Jesus is still there. Still calling. Still reaching. Still saving. Still restoring.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

Stop trying to patch the cracks on a broken foundation. Stop trying to fix the habits, the attitude, the circumstances. Jesus is saying, come back to the foundation. Come back to the rock. When the foundation is right, God can begin rebuilding everything else.

David prayed it this way: "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my anxieties. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23-24

Life Application

This week, take time to do a foundation inspection. Not of your circumstances, your relationships, or your habits in isolation, but of what you have been feeding, what you have been allowing through the door, and what may have slowly eroded your closeness with God.

Choose one specific thing to stop feeding and one specific thing to start feeding. Maybe that means turning off a source of noise that has been consuming your attention and replacing it with ten minutes in the Word. Maybe it means returning to a prayer habit you let slip. Maybe it means finally giving something to God that you have been carrying alone.

Ask yourself these questions as you go into the week:

What have I been giving my attention to that has been slowly pulling me away from God?
What "little thing" have I been dismissing that may actually be eroding my foundation?
What am I feeding daily, and is it producing the kind of life and faith I want to have when the next storm comes?
If a storm hit my life today, would I be standing on solid ground, or would I discover my foundation has shifted?

Build now. Build on the rock. Because when the storm comes, and it will come, you want to still be standing.