“The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house” (Matthew 7:25, 27)

It should be instructive to us that the words quoted above are found in BOTH Matthew 7:25 AND 7:27.  “The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew” against BOTH houses in the story that Jesus told: both the house that was built upon the rock, and the house that was built on the sand.  The words are exactly the same in both cases. It was not that the house that was built on the rock didn’t get any rain or floods or winds; it did. The difference was not in the difficulties that were faced; the difference was the foundation the house was built upon.

Jesus interprets the story for us, explaining that “the house built on the rock” is the person who hears the word of God and DOES it. “The house built on the sand” is the person who hears the word of God but does NOT put it into practice.  “Rain” and “floods” and “wind” come against both of these people: these elements represent the trials and difficulties of life. And notice that in the story Jesus teaches that they are exactly the same for both kinds of people.  The Bible never teaches that the difference between Christians and others is that Christians do not face “storms” in life.  They do.  The only difference between the two was the commitment of the one to obeying the word of Christ.

So the storms are coming — evidently pretty much the same kinds of storms await everyone, without fail.  The question is, when they come to you, will you stand — or fall?  According to Jesus it is whether you have ACTED on His words that will make the difference.