When the Ground Gives Way Beneath You

I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me (Psalm 69:2).

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! (2 Samuel 22:47)

The sand sucked away beneath my feet as the waves pushed in and pulled out on the seashore where I stood. The ground was literally giving way from beneath my feet. 

Looking out across the ocean, I strived to see something, anything, immovable and fixed on the horizon. I was also looking out across my life, striving to see something, anything, to anchor me again, to let me know that amidst the great expanse of unsteady waves stretching out before me there was something immovable and unshakable.

In, out. The waves continued their work of undoing my security. My feet sank deeper into the muck that was once firm sand, and I had to adjust my position so I wouldn’t fall.

This is like my life, Lord, I thought to myself. I’m sinking. Everything I’ve built seems to be tottering. As I wallowed in fear, it overwhelmed me and sucked the ground right out from under my feet.

But you have not built your life on sand, my child.

The thought came to me like a voice over the waves, come to rescue me.

It was a voice I have known amid the waves since childhood, a safe voice, the voice of love. It was my Father’s voice. He has rescued me so many times. I am mystified that He does not grow weary with me, even when I am sinking again because of my lack of faith.

I looked down where I stood. My feet were invisible now, submerged beneath the sand out of sight.

Move.

I snapped to attention and dragged my feet out of the two little pits made by the tides. Turning away from the waves, I found solid ground and began to walk, one foot in front of the other, listening intently to what else my Father wanted me to know. 

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Matthew 7:25-27).

As a follower of Christ, I have not built my life on sand. I have built it on the Rock. And the promise is that when the storms come, the house built on the rock will remain.

My part is to practice my Savior’s words. To do this I must be reading His words. Spending time in the Bible and listening, trusting. His part is to keep the promise that my house will not fall even in the fiercest storm.

Sometimes we do everything “right” and yet, the waves begin their work of undoing us.

Filled with fear and anxiety, we stand in the sand as the ground gives way beneath us, sinking us deeper into a murky pit.

It is as if we have forgotten who we are, how we have built, on what sure foundation we have hammered and sawed, constructed, and persevered over the years.

The promise of the Rock still stands even when the ground gives way. #faith #overcomingfear Share on X

Move, go to higher ground, put one foot in front of the other in faith. Put into practice the instruction of the Savior and continue to build your life on the Rock.

Christ-follower, you were not made to sink in the sand. #faith #overcomingfear Share on X

Lord, remind me today that You are the Rock beneath my feet. Help me pull my feet out of the muck and walk on in faith. Amen.

@audreycfrank