By REV. DR BRIAN GIGEE
“Foundations”
“It takes wisdom to build a house and understanding to set it on a firm foundation.” – Proverbs 24:3
The old Bible school song goes like this… “The wise man built his house upon the rock… the wise man built his house upon the rock…” and then it gets repeated until the rains came tumbling down…
And we know what can happen when the rain comes down… it’s in the second verse…
“The rains came down and the floods came up
The rains came down and the floods
came up
The rains came down and the floods
came up
And the house on the rock stood
firm!”
Rain or shine it’s important for any home to have a solid foundation. I’m grateful to have been raised in one. I worked hard to provide one for my children and even now I’m blessed to provide a foundation of faith to my grandchildren. I hope they will do the same for the ones who come after them.
One of my earliest childhood memories is being in the car with my father, mother and grandmother driving out from our apartment in the city to the new street in the suburbs where my parents were having their new home built. It was 1956 and my father was convinced that if he went to inspect the house each week it would be built both correctly and swiftly. This practice turned out to be the watched pot that never boiled!
For him… it was forever!
He wanted to be certain the foundation was laid properly so the house to be built there would be strong and sturdy to raise his family. I remember walking on it after driving on a very uneven gravel road and while the journey to get there was bumpy, the foundation was level and smooth.
After the slab settled properly, the builder constructed the house and over the coming decades my parents raised five children under its roof and provided shelter for my paternal grandmother as well. She died with a confident faith in 1982. My dad died in 1987 and my mother lived in that house until her death in 2008. My three sisters, younger brother and I learned about family, trust, forgiveness, love of neighbor and service to the community growing up in that house… as it was a home built on Christian faith and values … the only home my parents ever owned… and the only home my siblings and I needed. I’d be a liar if I said it was easy… the rain did come down in lots of ways as there were some rough and tense moments over the years… but that’s for another column another day…
And so… you’ve figured it out… a good foundation can be made of concrete just as one is made with a strong and courageous faith… after all… Jesus did make it clear in Matthew 7:24-27 that in life both are needed.
St. Paul wrote, “Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11). For him and many Jesus was enough. I believe Jesus still is… and now that we all have been hunkered down in our homes for about a year … there’s no time like the present to give some thought about what is foundational and essential in your life… and in your home… as the rains will come… as will the floods! Faith matters. It does. Always.
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Comments and/or questions can be sent to godworks247365@gmail.com.
