When I was a child, Sunday School Preliminaries was a thing. Each Sunday, we’d gather in the chapel or fellowship hall before Sunday School and have a penny march (“Dropping, dropping, never stopping, hear those pennies fall.” I can hear it now!) and sing these short little choruses before going to class. Even now, at odd times, more than 20 years later, those songs return to my memory. As I’ve thought about the upheaval of 2020 that’s bled over into 2021, there’s one that has been playing on a loop in my head. 

The foolish man built his house upon the sand, the foolish man built his house upon the sand, The foolish man built his house upon the sand and the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up, the rains came down and the floods came up, The rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the sand went splat.

But the wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock, The wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up, the rains came down and the floods came up, The rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the rock stood firm.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t build our foundation on the sand. Global pandemic, lost jobs, schools shut down, political unrest, images on our news screens that look like what we’re used to seeing in other countries, but are, in fact, trauma to our brothers and sisters of color, the Church in turmoil and the list goes on and on. If our house, our lives, are built with faith in these systems, then we’re in trouble. Man, and man-made systems, will never sustain us. They are fallible. Our faith must firmly rest, solidly built, on the Lord. Only in Him can we find a foundation that will never let us down.

We celebrate Easter this month. After Good Friday, the disciples may have been tempted to think their foundation had crumbled. Jesus was dead. Where was hope? But then Sunday morning came, and Jesus conquered death! The foundation held. Jesus is alive! Psalm 62:2 tells us, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” 

Where is your foundation built? Have you built it upon the sand or upon Jesus, where you will never be shaken?