Firm Foundation
Rikki Permenter, MAMFC, Th. M.
“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”
- Jesus Luke 6:47-48
As I sit to write today I am surrounded by flooding. I’ve been stuck in my house for two days. Yesterday my husband and I got cabin fever and went “exploring.” We took our jeep and drove over to the Amite River bridge very close to our home to see for ourselves what the news stations keep talking about. As I sat there and watched the water rushing nearly over the bridge I became a little awe-struck. I saw various kinds of people’s belongings floating quickly down the river - at the mercy of the waters. Over the last few days between fifteen and twenty inches of rain have fallen in the area where I live. Ponds and now lakes and rivers have overflown into pastures, yards, homes. Roadways and bridges and covered in water and are impassable. It might not occur to you until you’ve seen it but water is a very powerful tool. When harnessed, it can create enough energy to power a city through a dam or when left unharnessed destroy nearly everything in its way that isn’t on a firm foundation.
Life is a lot like the nearly 45-foot deep water that is rushing under and almost over the Amite River bridge near my home. If you’re not on a firm foundation and aren’t intentional about things your life can be like the many ice chests, tires, and ladders I saw being dragged by the rushing current down the river. When you’re just going with the flow you’re not in control of your life, you are being controlled by that which surrounds you. While I was watching the waters rush past me I noticed a single tree in the distance on what was surely the banks of the Amite River a few days ago but was now the middle of the Amite River. I watched as the waters parted when they came to it and flowed around it on both sides. The tree remained unmoved. The tree had a firm foundation - firmly rooted deep in the ground. This image stuck with me. I felt as if the Lord was saying to me “What are you rooted in? What is your firm foundation? What have you built your life upon?”. When the metaphorical waters of life rise will you be swept away by the current that surrounds you or will the waters part around you while you remain unmoved because of your firm foundation?
Author Bio
Rikki Permenter, MAMFC, Th.M., is the owner of Bent Tree Counseling in Clinton, La. She is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in the state of Louisiana. She is the wife of Cole Permenter, pastor of Bluff Creek Baptist and a doctoral student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Interested in counseling or have questions? Check out her website www.benttreecounseling.com.
This article can be found in print in the monthly Baptist Association of Southeast Louisiana newsletter.
