Our foundation will endure

Isaiah 54: 14

In righteousness you will be established:  Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear.  Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. NIV

In my Bible, this chapter is called, “The Future Glory of Zion.”  It is a series of promises from God to his people, and it contains at least two reminders not to worry.  The first, Isaiah 54:4, is one that I found early in the project.  This is the second.

In the verses immediately preceding this one, God talks about building.  Verse 11 says, “I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires.” I love that.

When I think about these verses through the lens of the verse I looked at  yesterday … I can see that there is something here to learn.

I am pretty certain that the rock on which my friends’ house is built is granite.  In the last several years, granite seems to have increased dramatically in value, as everyone and his brother was out redoing their kitchens and bathrooms.  I’ve personally walked through warehouses of the stuff and been shown a dizzying array of colors and patterns.  But, prior to the last several years, I have to believe that most people looked at granite like I did, as just, well, rock.  Sapphires on the other hand are stones that have been valued in our culture for a very long time.

God will build our foundation of something that all can see has real value … Jesus Christ.

When I looked up “righteousness” in my Hebrew to English dictionary, I was pleased to learn that one of its definitions is “salvation.”   I looked up “be established,” and it means, “to put in place, make secure.”

In righteousness I will be established … I am put in place and made secure through my salvation.

I love that image.

My grandmother’s house is gone.  I don’t know exactly what happened to it, because she died when I was young.  I remember visiting her there, but, we lived several states away so, the exact circumstances of the house’s demise are a mystery to me.

However, the foundation is still there.  Years ago, my husband and I visited the town.  I found the foundation, and walked all around it … like a kid would walk on a wall.  Not all of the square that was the house is visible above ground.  Some of it has been covered by dirt and undergrowth, but, as I walked, I could see that all of it was still in place.  I can remember where all of the rooms were located, and, as I walked, I saw the house as it had been when I was young.

The house did not stand.  But the thing about foundations is that they are solid, and often the things that impact stuff above ground does not affect them (tornadoes, hurricanes, bulldozers).

The worries of this world are like those forces … but, my life is planted on a foundation that is completely solid.

I am firmly set in place atop a gorgeous, precious, immovable rock.

That’s what I’ll think about today.