Years ago, I decided to buy a bunch of outdoor bistro lights to beautify my backyard.
The directions on the package promised me an easy set up- simply attach to the nearest tree and plug them in!
Since many of the trees in my backyard were spread so far apart, I decided to use any rope, string or cord that I could find in the garage-even using balloon string- to tie them to my high trees.
It looked beautiful at first, I have so many memories of camping and singing songs over the fire in our backyard over the years.
But little did I know that without the right tools, ladders or knowledge, I was going to make a huge problem for the future.
I had no idea that putting up my lights would later be torn down by storms and hurricane winds.
After a particularly bad hurricane season, my contractor husband decided to take down all of my hours of hard work and start again.
It took him and entire weekend to cut off the old strings and chainsaw back branches that have been growing over my light chords over the years- causing them to buckle and pop lights.
In the process, we broke so many pieces of glass- trying to get lights out of the maze that I created from old balloon string and cord.
It was a mess! We even had to keep the kids at a friends house for the whole weekend just so that they would be safe and not step on any remnants of glass laying around!
All of this could’ve been avoided if I had just had the right tools, the right knowledge and the right hooks to put up my lights in the first place.
This reminded me of such a powerful lesson of life. Sometimes we try to rush through life and not really take the time to set the foundation and groundwork that it takes to have a successful future and family.
Sometimes we think cutting corners will save us years of time- but in reality it takes time away from our lives and creates dangers for future possibilities.
If we don’t get the beginning and fundamentals right, it could take us years to untangle the mess that we’ve made.
Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
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Without the principles found in the Word, what principles will we attach our life to? What will hold our life together during the time of storms?
The Gospel of Matthew reminds us to build our life on the bed rock of Christ as the Great knowledgeable carpenter:
Matthew 7:24 says “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
So what materials are you temporarily holding your life together with? Money? Career? Relationships?
Just know when the storms of life come, you will find out what matters and what doesn’t very quickly.