This is why having God in your life is important. He can be that base. He can be that foundation. He can be that root system. He is the only thing (bad word to use but I don't know a better one) that is unchanging. The Hebrews writer says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever."
It's that notion about what you're building on -- sand or rock. Rock of course is the right answer, is the only smart answer.
And Jesus is that rock.
We had an unusual six days. As I wrote not long ago our plumbing wasn't working. It still isn't working but hopefully today it will be. I'm quite proud of my kids. They were not happy about it at first (neither was I), but the complaining stopped that first day and there hasn't been any since. The younger kids learned to take sponge baths and my two oldest took showers at other people's houses (thank you Jesus for friends who are so gracious to share their showers). My husband has been showering and shaving at work. I've been making due. Dishes are inconvenient but I have been getting them done. We have several mountains of dirty clothes but it's been kind of nice not doing any laundry. Maybe God was giving me a break, part of that quiet waters thing.
Last Friday I had some medical procedures done in my digestive system. Found out my system is pretty rough looking. Told I have IBS. What this means is that I have to radically change my diet and eating habits. I've known this for a long time, but I am one who hates diets of any kind. I am not a big eater but I want to eat what I want to eat.
But my system can't take it anymore. I have to care for myself.
As I think on this and read about how I need to eat to get myself healthy I am continuing The Artist's Way program. What is coming up is that there is a part of me that thinks spending time on myself where the healing has to happen is a waste of time.
I wrote this morning "Lord, I hate wasting all this time just in my own thoughts. I should be doing something, praying for someone, doing something for someone else. Wasting this time on writing my thrown-up thoughts seems selfish."
If someone else said that about herself I'd say it wasn't selfish. I'd tell her she's worth the time. She's worth the time it will take to heal. If we aren't healed within, physically and emotionally and spiritually, how can we heal others? Jesus tells us to go and "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
If we don't receive our own healing, how can we give it?
Have I gone a tangent here? What does this have to do with God as our foundation?
Everything.
We can flounder, we can receive or not receive, we can give or not give, but we still fall back on Jesus Christ. I know He doesn't change even if I feel like everything is changing and I don't know how to keep up. Even in these times when I feel kind of lost in the head and just frantic He's still got me. He's still in control. He's still holding onto my life and won't let go.
After I received the results of my tests and thought about them, almost a day later I was thinking and praying about it with God. I had had a lot of cancer symptoms and I had the tests done because a specialist recommended them and also we needed to know what we were dealing with. Now that I know what I am dealing isn't life and death, I made a commitment to make the necessary changes. My family needs me healthy. God wants me healthy. I need to be healthy. It was like I felt like, "No, you aren't going to die anytime soon. You have a long life ahead of you. Get it together. Make the changes. Do what needs doing."
Am I making sense? Why am I even sharing this? Maybe I am "perfectly blunt."
Well, not perfectly but blunt all the same.
If we go to Mark 16 Jesus says there are signs that will accompany those who believe. He says, "In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
That really doesn't describe my life.
But I am a Believer and this believer is going to see her body healed -- her outlook on herself too.