The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rains came tumbling down
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 (traditional children’s song)
Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. (Matthew 7:24-25 TPT)
“What God is building within you is stronger than the storm coming against you.”
That was the last thing the conference speaker said.
She had spent the last twenty-five minutes talking about faith using the image of concrete—a fitting metaphor, since she was trained and worked as a concrete engineer in the construction industry. She understood the strength of the material, especially its ability to endure even the most devastating storms.
The image she shared was striking: a single house standing alone in Pass Christian, Mississippi—the only structure left intact in its neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Why did this house survive when everything around it was destroyed?
It was built differently.
Unlike the surrounding homes, its walls were made of concrete, intentionally engineered to withstand extreme conditions because of concrete’s natural strength and resilience. Resilience in a storm means the ability to endure the elements or recover quickly—a toughness that holds firm under pressure. Had this house been built with standard lumber and conventional materials, it’s unlikely we would still be talking about it today. But because the homeowner and builders chose concrete, the house became a powerful object lesson.
Jesus spoke of this same truth in Matthew 7, when He described the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand. Both houses faced storms and floods. One collapsed—but the one built on a firm foundation stood, because of where and how it was built.
The storms in our lives are real, but they do not have to be devastating. Interestingly, the house in Pass Christian was still under construction when Katrina hit, and it did sustain some damage. Yet the structure itself remained standing. In the same way, we face physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional storms. If our spiritual “house” is built on the firm rock of Jesus, we may bear some scars—but we will not be destroyed.
After a storm, the Creator may need to do some refurbishing or restoration in us. We may look different afterward. But He will rebuild us stronger than before.
We are invited into a life of resilience, not because we are strong, but because He is strong. When our lives are anchored to Jesus Christ—through prayer, Scripture, worship, and service—we know who we belong to, and we know His peace. When our foundation is in Christ, the storm cannot take us out.
“What God is building within you is stronger than the storm coming against you.”
God,
When the storms of life are raging, stand by me;
when the storms of life are raging, stand by me;
when the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea,
Thou who rulest the wind and water, stand by me.
In the midst of tribulation, stand by me;
in the midst of tribulation, stand by me;
when the host of hell assail, and my strength begins to fail,
Thou who never lost a battle, stand by me.
In the midst of persecution, stand by me;
in the midst of persecution, stand by me;
when my foes in war array, undertake to stop my way,
Thou who rescued Paul and Silas, stand by me.*
Be our Rock, our Firm Foundation, our Cornerstone. Strengthen us for the storms, restore us to greater strength, and remind us that YOU are greater within us than all the storms around us. We ask this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
* “Stand by Me” by Charles Albert Tindley (1905)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4 NIV)
h/t H.S.