It was only Wednesday. A month of stress had been packed into a half a week. A time of contemplative reflection with some godly gals had been just what I needed. The tension in my neck finally relaxed—until I returned home and my daughter pointed to a puddle on the kitchen floor.
By: James Lee
I frowned. “What were you doing at the sink?”
“Nothing. I just came downstairs and found it like this.”
I emptied the sink cabinet and discovered a swamp. Gray mold clung to the sagging floor in the back. A water expert assessed the damage with a small instrument. The beep beeps revealed our slow leak had penetrated under our oak floors and down to our garage ceiling. With a glint in his eye, the expert told me if this had gone much longer, anyone using the sink might have fallen through.
I know the the importance of a sure foundation. Our leak reminded me that even after you’ve built well you must protect your foundation. A little leak can cause severe damage.
Jesus told a story in Matthew 7:24-29 to illustrate the protection a strong foundation provides. While a solid foundation won’t stop storms, storms won’t tear apart a life, a family, or a future built on solid biblical principles.
Just like a house takes regular maintenance, so does our faith. We all have triggers that open up trickles, or in some cases, floods of destructive thoughts. Old wounds harbor deep gullies of wrong thought patterns.
Romans 12:2 promises that when we change our thinking we’ll transform our reactions. Journaling helps me identify and patch leaky thoughts. Here’s a peek from how I dealt with some unhelpful thoughts concerning our leak.
Leaky thoughts: I have to figure out how to take care of this.
Refreshed thoughts: The Lord will provide, (Genesis 22:14). The Lord will supply all my needs, (Phil. 4:19).
Leaky thoughts: Where can I go for help? This is beyond my knowledge or expertise.
Refreshed thoughts: The Lord is my helper. He never forsakes me, (Heb. 13:5-6). He helps me when I trust in Him, (Ps, 146:5).
Leaky thoughts: What is going to happen? How will this set us back?
Refreshed thoughts: Don’t fear the future. God has it covered. (Jere. 29:11)
Our sink leak was a problem as long as it was hidden. My insurance agency has called in several experts to fix the problem. The discovery wasn’t fun, but it protected us.
Stress exposes leaky thoughts. Bringing my leaky thoughts to God gives His Spirit an opportunity to reveal and repair my leaks. It’s not fun to find them. But once we do, He helps us repair our foundation.
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Blessings,
Deborah W. Wilson
Linking to: #livefreeThursday
Email: LighthouseMinistries@mac.com
Thanks Debbie……seems “if we would only see” God is speaking through “life” to us. You can see and thanks for sharing. Pat
Great to hear from you, Pat. And it is wonderful when God uses visuals to speak to us.
I love this post! It is amazing to me, more and more, to see how God has provided instructions for our life’s problems.. each and every one 🙂 even the personal thoughts we keep hidden in our minds! It’s also amazing to have friends in my life now who provide this insight for guidance (with scripture references to boot!) Thanks Debbie for sharing.
Thank you, Kathy. God truly cares for the details in our life. Even our hairs are numbered! That is pretty detailed.
I so agree Debbie and I can so relate – to both the leak under the sink (which we also had at Christmas time) and to your statement about how we all have triggers that seem to flood our minds with old, destructive thoughts. All too often it happens so subtly I don’t catch it until I’ve been sinking in the negativity of it. I’m getting better at being more aware. Sometimes those triggers are so subconscious, you don’t realize what’s happening until you are in the midst of it. Keeping our faith foundation strong is definitely #1.
Oh to catch the leaky thoughts early! Some feel so familiar that our alarms don’t go off. Others are easier to spot. Thanks for sharing, Ann.
this was absolutely wonderful…..love the way it is written!
Thanks, Stephanie. Great to hear from you.
Hi! I’ve visiting from #livefreeThursday. I loved reading your post. I like your analogy with the leaky thoughts, and I loved how you counteract those thoughts with Scripture. If we are in the Word, God will use it to transform our minds and help us to have that strong foundation we so desperately need. Thanks for such an inspiring post. 🙂
Gayl, thank you for dropping by and commenting. I’m rather new to #livefree Thursday. I am enjoying meeting Christian writers and readers.