Foundation - It's Critical

Recently, Michelle and I looked at an investment house under foreclosure. We both believe that real-estate is a good long-term investment and we both believe that we will have some investment properties in our portfolio.
Knowing that the key to making money in any market is to “buy low, sell high” we decided that it may be a good time to try and find our first property. As Michelle was driving through the neighborhood the other day, she spotted a cute little home on a great lot. It looked like it had all the potential to be a perfect rental home.
When the agent let us inside, we realized that this was one dirty home. It smelled horrible, the carpets were grossly stained, the walls were splattered with some unknown substance, and there was fuzzy green mold growing on the cabinets.
Yep, a perfect home.
Really, it was exactly what I was looking for. See, most people cannot see past the stains and smells. What I know is that some intense cleaning, new flooring, and paint can make an extreme difference.
As I paced through the house imagining the potential, I noticed something that really concerned me. The floor of the house was an arch. From wall to wall, I walked down hill to the middle of the home and back up to the other wall. Uh Oh, foundation problem.
I can look past all the smells, fuzzy objects, dirt, grime, etc, but I cannot look past a bad foundation. All the cleaning, rebuilding, and painting will not fix the bad foundation.
The risk with this home is that over time this foundation would have eventually crumbled leaving the home crumbled and splintered.

Now let me state, “I know that a foundation can be fixed, but I am not interested in that much work.”
With that said, you can make a house as beautiful as you want on the outside and inside, but if the foundation is flawed, that house is pretty much worthless in my opinion.

This made me think of the parable of the wise and foolish man. The wise man built his house on a very strong foundation. The foolish man built his house on a weak foundation. I believe the foolish man had the most beautiful home we can imagine. It was ocean front property, 3500 square foot and it was immaculate. Every person that walked by this house lusted for it and wished they had one just like it.
On the other hand, I believe the wise man had a well maintained, smaller home a few miles inland. Although it was very nice it did not even compare to the foolish man’s home. People walked by the wise man’s home everyday and did not offer it much of their attention.
One day, a category 5 hurricane decided to come through that area. As you already know, the foolish man’s home did not survive the storm. In fact, many homes in the area were completely wiped out. However, a few miles inland was a perfectly maintained, small home standing just as firm as before the storm.
After the storm, the wise man’s home became the talk of the town. It even made the national news. Such a normal home, but everyone was impressed with how it withstood the storm. It was able to do so because it was built on a very strong foundation.

As you already know, Jesus was not referring to proper home construction with this parable. Rather, he was referring to our lives. In fact, He was stating that building our lives on anything other than the only Sovereign God is futile.

It is very easy to get caught up in building a life that is admired by others. A life with the highest level of education, a six figure income, the perfect car and house, a beautiful spouse, perfect children, a fantastic figure, and the list can keep going on and on.
I do not believe that any of these things are bad, but I strongly believe that these things alone will not lead to a happy, fulfilled life. And even further, when life’s storms come at you, and they will, these qualities alone will crumble.
It happens all the time. People lose their job and six figure incomes everyday. A simple fire and storm can wipe out a house in an instant. (Trust me; a fire took mine out in about 10 minutes) A car accident can instantly change the perfect figure. Statistics alone show the extremely high rate of divorce. Finally, if you figure out how to raise perfect children, please let me know.

The only sure way to ensure that your life does not fully crumble is to build it on a strong foundation. I believe the strongest foundation is God. I have found that lives built on the strong foundation are often overlooked on a daily basis, but people are amazed when these individuals are un-phased during life’s extreme storms. When life’s storms come, and they will, seemingly bad things may happen, but somehow it’s all ok, because you are still attached to the foundation. Life’s problems may add blemishes along the way, but they can be fixed and repaired as long as the foundation is still in place.

Stop Clowning Around:
Is your life built on the firm foundation?