It was September 26, 1987 when a 39 - week stillborn baby was delivered by a 19 year  old married young woman. This was her first child and the baby’s name would have been  Philip Thomas. She had thanked the Lord every doctor’s appointment for the opportunity to have the child and had already given him to God for whatever His will might be for this boy. Now all her and her husband would be able to do would be to grieve for and bury him. But they were able to do so because God is good. Fast forward 27 years and her second child, Norman Daniel, would pass away as the result of an accident he had while serving the Lord as a missionary in foreign country. He would be laid to rest on the mission field where he had served for over two years. Again, this lady and her husband would grieve for and bury a child. And they were able to do so because they knew that God is still good. 

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:24-27, “ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of  mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that  house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these  sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his  house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,  and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” As Thomas’ mother, I  did not understand these verses, but I came to understand them while grieving for  Daniel. My husband and I had begun building our houses on the Rock as young people,  reading the Bible, praying, and going to Bible-preaching churches while seeking to obey  the Holy Spirit as He spoke to our hearts. Thus, we were able to stand during the grief  and loss of Thomas. Then, almost three decades later, we were still able to stand on the  Rock. Why? Because God was still the same God, He had not changed. We had  become stronger Christians by striving to consistently build on and walk with the Lord. 

I hope this will challenge and encourage us to build our houses, our lives, on the only sure and dependable Rock, that is, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The storms will come, but God has shown us that by building on the Rock we can stand firm during the storms and shine as lights for Him.