Charles F. Stanley - Standing Strong: How to Storm-Proof Your Life with Gods Timeless Truths

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Strength or WeaknessIts Your Choice

A strong life.

A life that endures.

A life that makes an eternal impact.

I think all of us would agree thats the kind of existence we wish to haveone that has a lasting influence on this world and beyond. We want to know that the days we live are actually making a difference and that there is a reason for what we do and for the difficulties we experience. We want to be sure that what we are standing for is worthwhile.

But we also understand that to do so, we must break free from the factors that make us weakthose issues that hold us back and undermine us.

Because the truth of the matter is, it usually isnt when were feeling tough and confident that we go looking for books on standing strong. Its not when were secure and assured that we need encouragement. Rather, its when the future is unsure. We become aware that we might not be as successful as we thought, and we long to know how to make it throughand how to do so well. Its when the burdens get heavy, the challenges we face seem impossible, or the obstacles that stare at us from the horizon appear overwhelming. Thats when we realize that we are in danger of being less than wed hoped to be or, worse, failing altogether. Thats when we reach out for wisdom about how to stand.

Whether we are eight years old, forty-eight, or eighty-eight, in the core of our hearts, we dont want failure to characterize the end of our stories. We dont want to be known for our worst mistakes and defeats, but for our greatest victories and triumphs.

So what goes into the construction of a strong life? Its not just having a healthy bodythats useful, but there is much more to it than that. Likewise, it is more than having a good job, plenty of money, or prestigious social standing in your community. How can you experience a strong, fruitful life? What does it take?

To understand this, we can take a lesson from architecture, since we know what it takes to raise a strong building. In fact, it is a useful exercise to look at the edifices around us and throughout the world and consider what causes some structures to endure throughout the centuries of bad weather and harsh elements and others to topple within years of their construction. Naturally, we cannot go into a detailed examination of this topic. But what are the basic reasons some buildings can withstand the poundings of the harshest elements and others fail at the onset of bad weather?

The most important factor, of course, is a stable foundation.

We sometimes see tragically sad reports in the news. A two-story island resort in Thailand collapses without warning. A six-story building in Nairobi falls unexpectedly, killing twelve. A tenement building in New Delhi crashes to the ground, taking the lives of sixty-seven. Why? In such cases, heavy rains compromised already weak foundations and caused them to fall.

We can see this in Israel and the Middle East, which experience seasons of severe storms and torrential rainfall. During such times, the landscape can change dramatically. The sunbaked ground, which seems so solid during the lengthy dry seasons, easily gives way when the raging waters pound against it. Gullies are formed as the force of the floods makes a path through whatever yields to it. Anything built on those shifting sands ultimately falls.

Obviously, this is a problem for anyone who wishes to build any kind of permanent structure. If they want to ensure that their buildings will last, they must take more time, invest the additional resources, and make the extra effort to drill down past the layers of compacted sediment and anchor the structure to the immovable rock.

The same is true for our lives. Jesus explained it like this:

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it felland great was its fall. (Matt. 7:2428)

No one is exactly sure where Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, but wherever that location was, we know it was near the Sea of Galilee and close to Capernaum, and Christs listeners would have witnessed a visual representation of this truth. The surrounding landscape appeared safe, but in fact builders were required to dig down to the bedrock in order for the structures to remain secure. Perhaps they had even seen the remains of buildings that had been poorly founded on the sand and had slid and tumbled when the storms rolled in.

Yet we must understand that even though Jesus is talking about an outward reality of a buildings foundation, He is also describing an internal truththe importance of what we base our lives on and who we are on the inside.

Understand, I am not talking merely about a backbone issue. Its not just about sticking to your ideals when the bad times come. We have all seen people who outwardly cling to their ideologies and values while privately turning to destructive coping mechanisms, hurting their relationships, or crumbling emotionally. Rather, the choices you make about what you believe go to the heart of who you are as a person. You can stand strong on the outside because, on the inside, your life is established on unshakable, unfailing truth. It matters what you believe and why you believe it.

When suffering and disappointments come our way, if our lives are built on the right foundation, we can stand no matter what happens. If theyre not, we wont. Oh, we may look sturdy while the sun is shining and everything is going our way, but when the winds and rains start pounding down, who we really are is evident. And sometimes, thats not a very good picture.

Some people, when renovating a house, upgrade only the cosmetic aspectsnew hedges, nicer tiling, perhaps some enhanced lighting. They may also try to hide the defects with paint or cleverly positioned furniture and artwork.

So it is when we renovate our liveswe may try to get in shape, improve our health, dress nicer, embellish our rsum, and even become more outwardly religious. We try to impress others with our external qualities. We may also try to mask or diminish our pain, weaknesses, and fears with addictive substances or immoral behaviorhoping that, somehow, theyll make us more courageous. But they dont. They undermine our confidence even further.