Is God the Rock in Your Life?

God, in His infinite wisdom, has chosen to communicate with us through His sacred Word, which He has caused to be recorded for us in the Bible. God uses figures of speech in the Bible to make it easier for us to relate to Him. He compares Himself to earthly things that we are familiar with to help us to know Him, His ways, and His unconditional love for us.

One of the great metaphors of the Bible is God's depiction of Himself as our "Rock." We think of a rock as something that is strong, solid, immovable, unchanging, and a source of firm footing. Accordingly, God wants believers to trust in Him and rely on Him as a source of constant strength and solid grounding in their lives. Early in the Old Testament, God is referred to as "the Rock of Israel," a source of strength and protection for His faithful people (Genesis 49:22-24). There are also many references to God being our Rock in the Book of Psalms. A typical reference is found in Psalm 18:1-2: "I love you, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge, my Shield and the Horn of my salvation, my Stronghold." God gives us the strength to deal with life's issues and to keep moving forward with good works as we seek His kingdom. God is our Rock of Strength.

God is not only our source of strength, but He also blesses us by offering us refuge. He offers comfort and protection from harm and the distresses of life to those who believe in Him, trust Him, and seek Him. In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses asks God to show him His glory, and God uses a rock to protect Moses and keep him from seeing His face (seeing God's face would cause him to die!): "Then the Lord said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but My face must not be seen.' "These verses may have inspired the hymn writer Augustus Toplady when he authored his great hymn "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me" and included the words "let me hide myself in thee" in verse 1. God is our Rock of Refuge.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses a rock analogy to help us understand that we need to build our lives on the solid foundation of God's Word: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24). A house built on a firm foundation of rock, instead of sand, will survive severe storms. Jesus is telling us that if we trust in God and live in accordance with His Word, we will survive the trials, temptations, and challenges of life and be saved. This analogy may have inspired yet another hymn writer, Edward Mote, to author the hymn "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less." The hymn's refrain says it all: "On Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand." God is our Rock of Salvation.

We need to base our lives on something much more solid than just ourselves if we wish to have true peace, happiness, and meaning in our lives. We need to "stand" on God, our ever-present Rock. The Bible tells us that only He can give us true strength and refuge. Only He can keep us from perishing in "sinking sand" and give us eternal life. The Disciple Group encourages you to pray frequently and to always remember to seek God first in your life above all else. And always rely on Him to be the solid Rock that sustains you, both now and forever. The Word of God: "Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD Himself, is the Rock eternal" (Isaiah 26:4).