The Frog Stranglers of Life

[Jesus said] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27 ESV).

Ever hear of a chunk-floater? If you’re from Arkansas, you know it’s a heavy rain. What about a fence lifter? That’s what a heavy rain is called in the Ozarks. Here in Texas, as well as some of the other Gulf States, we call these heavy rains a frog strangler. And New Englanders call a very heavy rain a gully-washer. That’s the kind of rain Jesus is talking about in our reading today. In this parable Jesus describes the storms of life as a matter of fact. He does not say “If” those storms come. Twice he says, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house.” So we can be sure that our life’s foundation will be tested. There’s no getting around it. The question is whether the foundation will stand up to the test. Have we chosen to build on a firm foundation, or not? Interestingly, many of the ¬houses in our area of North Central Texas do not have a firm foundation. While some areas do have solid rock to build on, many other areas are porous and prone to shift. There are plenty of the slanting floors and leaning walls in older homes that are evidence of not built on deep pilings. When we built our home nearly four years ago, we were overly cautious about the foundation and dug more piers than necessary, making sure they were deeper than necessary as well. While it doesn’t rain that often in this part of Texas, when it does, it’s often a frog strangler! Life can be like that. I’m sure there may have been a few medical and scientific experts who anticipated such a pandemic as we face today, though the vast majority of the world was taken by surprise. Who would have thought we would face a near invisible virus that had the capacity to be airborne with such vicious results? We have seen every area of our life threatened, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We do have recourse. If our spiritual houses, which are being built in our hearts and minds, are solidly based on Jesus and his Word, we can have complete confidence that no matter what happens, our souls are secure. This means grounding ourselves in Christ every day and making wise choices through the guidance of his Spirit before the storms of life come. Only in him can we be assured that our foundation is rock-solid. Build wisely!