Life is good. I have been absolutely blessed in life lately and I am just amazed at all that is happening in my life and all that I have been through. God has seen me through many ups and downs over the years, but this year especially my relationship with him as grown the most. I searched for Him through a difficult time and found the identity Christ had laid out for me. When I gave up the control over my life to Christ, He began to work in my life in ways I could never have imagined. My relationship with Him and my faith has never been stronger. As all of this good is occurring and all of the blessing I am receiving I can’t help but wonder how my faith is really rooted. If I was not receiving these blessings, if I had been rejected from graduate school, lost a dear friend, was jobless and homeless, if I wasn’t sure of my calling or have the experiences I have had, would my relationship with God be the same? If all of this good was taken away would I still love God the same? Look at something in your life that you have felt really blessed with, your dream, your job, or family… now what if that was taken away or ended. Would your relationship with God be the same then? Is our trust in God the same in the valleys as it is when we are at the top of the mountain?

Lately, I have asked myself, “What is your relationship with God built on, does how I feel about my faith and my relationship depend on the circumstances of my life? These questions are hard for me to answer because I honestly won’t know if my faith is strong enough until that moment when I have to make that choice to choose faith over circumstances. I can only hope that as I develop and grow in my faith that I am building on a solid rock, a firm foundation so that when the storms do come, and they will come, but I will not fall. I want to strive for more. I want to replace the sand in my foundation and replace it with stone. I know that a castle built of sand will fall overtime–– I want to build on a sturdy foundation so that, “when the rain comes down, streams rise, and the wind blows, it will not fall down” (Matthew 7:25). I want to be able to say with confidence that no matter the circumstances I face my relationship with Christ will not waiver.

The best way that I can do this and to have a faith so strong is to prepare my heart and mind and continue to grow spiritually and learn more about God and exercise my faith, just like I exercise my body to become stronger.

When thinking about this topic a clip from the movie “Facing the Giants,” played over and over in my mind. After Brook Taylor (Coach Taylor’s wife) learned again that she was not pregnant, in the parking lot of the Dr.’s office, she burst into tears and cried out to God, “I will still love you, Lord, I will still love you . . .” Sometimes we continually face disappointments and discouragements in life and we lose our hope and even our faith in God. When we face trials we often stop looking to God because we are consumed with doubt and fear, we become discouraged and our hearts lose hope. Our relationships with Christ often suffer when we enter a valley or get hit with a storm. I don’t want to see my relationship with Him suffer, I want to have a faith that is strong enough where I can say no matter how many times I become disappointed or discouraged in this life, I will still love you, Lord, I will still love you.

How do I stay away from castles made of sand, how do I construct a faith on a firm foundation so that when the storms come, when the ground shakes it will not fall.

Something I have learned a lot while growing in my faith is finding peace and trust His plan. Trust is an important foundational block in any relationship and a very important one when it comes to a relationship with Christ. I call this the ultimate trust because part of having that firm foundation is being able to trust God with every little aspect of your life, and all the big ones too. Knowing that God has a plan for your life and trusting that no matter what you go through, it will be good, helps to strengthen your faith and relationship with God. It took me a long time to completely let go of the control over my life and trust God with all of it. But, when I did my relationship with Christ flourished and I found a peace that I have been longing for so long. A firm foundation is built on knowing that “God’s plan is to prosper you and not harm you, His plans are to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). Another building block I’ve applied is to be still and know (Psalm 46:10). When the storms do hit and the waves crash in, when the rain pours down, it is important to not be swept away, like sand, by all that is coming against you. Do not be consumed by the darkness of the valleys, but be still at heart and mind and know that God is with you, always. “Even when I walk through the darkest valley . . . you are close to me. (Psalm 23:4.) It has been amazing to learn of the love God has for me and to know that no matter where I go or what I go through He is always with me, always upholding me. I am never alone. Having this knowledge helps me have a stronger foundation as I cling to the rock that is higher (psalm 61:2).

It is important to be thankful for the blessings we have been given in life and rejoice when things are going well, but through ups and downs and all of the in-betweens our faith should remain no matter the circumstances we face. I don’t want to build a relationship with Christ just for it to wash away and fall down when life gets tough. I want to build a relationship on solid ground that is strong enough and rooted deep enough that it will not sway in the wind or wash away in the rain. Through disappointments and discouragements, I will still Love you Lord, and will continue to live my life in such a way, through the good and the bad.

Will you? Is your castle built with sand? Will your relationship with Christ and your faith wash away when the next storm hits? Or maybe your castle has already fallen. Let’s begin building our faith on the solid rock, Christ himself. Trust that even in the darkness God’s plan for you is good and he will see you through whatever you may face. Trust in His words and his plan. Move your relationship with Christ to solid ground and prepare you heart to choose to Love God no matter what circumstances you are facing. When it starts to get dark choose to say, “God I love you and I trust you,” and I promise that He will not let you fall.

God’s unconditional love for us always remains, so shall our love for Him not waiver in the rain.

(At some point every human looks right in the eyes of agony, and through tragedy, asks himself, how can this happen to me?

You might be the type with enough insight to hold on for your dear life, but slipping cause your grip is not as tight as you might like.

You ain’t immune to it, naw, and if you’re true to yourself then you ain’t new to it, trusted and self-lusted and lured to it.

So when the darkness overwhelms me, and a tide of lies rises and swells, it is well is what compels me.

When faced with adversity, Your truth constantly reminds me that You command the seas with ease and with words, You turn a wind to breeze.

Helps me understand that we stand on a solid Rock, not on sinking sand. Through the providence of pain You perfect Your plan.

Pre-destined, we test it when the works and words of God cooperate and educate men in a great gift of grace and faith -

That even though it’s obvious when my outlook’s ominous, You bound my heart and my conscious, and gave me a constant calmness.

So when the pain comes like rain from the parts of life that maintains its strain, I can put my trust in the hands that sustain.

It’s profound that with all these sinking ships around me, He surrounds me and He anchors me with His grace abounding.) -Anchor by Beautiful Eulogy