When Life Attacks

Have you seen those TV shows on cable called “When Animal’s Attack?” The idea of the show is that you have a person walking near a wild animal. The person probably shouldn’t be around an animal that has the ability to hurt or kill them. There is of course a video camera filming this person as they get closer to the wild animal. Then out of nowhere the animal just jumps and attacks this person. And everyone acts surprised when the wild animal attacks. It’s funny and sad when you hear someone say, “I just didn’t think that lion would hurt anybody”. Can these people not hear what they are saying? It’s a wild animal, that’s what they do. Animals can attack, and if you mess with them, they will attack, and don’t be surprised when they do.
In Matthew 7 Jesus tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The part we often forget about in the parable is that Jesus says there was a storm. There is no maybe about the storm; in fact Jesus is saying storms happen. Just as we know that animals can attack you out of nowhere, so can life, sometimes life attacks. The point of the parable is not how to avoid storms, because you can’t, everybody faces struggle and storms. The point of the parable is that the only way to overcome the storms of life is to be connected to Jesus. With Jesus as your rock you will overcome every struggle life throws at you. That is why we must be building our lives each day upon the powerful words and promises of God. May God bless you in both sunny and stormy days.