I have a confession to make. I am a home renovation TV show addict.

There’s just something in me that loves watching skilled crafts people pour their hearts and sweat into old, broken things and restore them to something beautiful and new.

I suppose it feels a lot to me like what the Lord does with us when we turn over the keys to our heart. He takes the shambles and disrepair we hand Him and fashions us into incredible new creations reflective of His glorious craftsmanship.

Time and hardship inevitably take their toll on even the most soundly constructed buildings. Even the strongest, most exquisite homes, though, can develop cracks in the foundation over years of relentless pounding from wind and rain, snow and ice. 

The same can be said for us, too, especially with floodwaters rising in torrents most of us are unaccustomed to. We’re struggling to maintain the magazine cover image of charm above ground, while below the surface we find the cracks forming in our hearts, and the floodwaters threatening to break us and overwhelm our souls.

We are promised throughout Scripture that Christ is our sure foundation, and as long as we stand firm on that foundation, there is no storm which can shake us or separate us from this love.

I have hearkened frequently during these times to Peter’s encounter with Jesus in Matthew 14:22-33:

Immediately after watching Jesus miraculously provide meals from meager means for thousands of people, the disciples cross the sea in the storm and see Jesus approaching on the water. Yet unsure it was actually Jesus, even after what they had just witnessed, they cried out in fear.

But Jesus said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Yet Peter, as he and the rest of the disciples often do, clearly need further reassurance. So the Lord calls him out onto the water. As soon as he takes His eyes off Jesus and focuses on the storm, though, he begins to sink, and cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” 

I suspect many of us, within our current circumstances, relate closely to Peter at this point in the encounter. We’ve been so overtaken by the torrent, we’ve taken our eyes off the foundation of our faith, and feel like we’re drowning in fear and doubt. It is when we feel in over our heads when the cracks appear.

Fortunately, though, at the end of this encounter, Jesus also provides us the solution. 

“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:31, ESV)

The only way we endure through the floodwaters is when we see Jesus for who He is, our life and our hope, the Son of God, and cling to Him, because our life depends on it. Instead of putting your hope in things that will crumble, hit your knees in prayer, open His word, and hold ever more tightly to the one who can calm the turbulent waters in your heart with just a touch and a word.

Feeling cracks in your heart today? Make sure you’re clinging to the sure foundation!

Daniel Kiewel is a reporter with the Great Bend Tribune. He can be reached at dkiewel@gbtribune.com.