What Foundation Will Your Home Stand On?

Storms don’t ask permission before they hit a home. One day it’s the steady drip of cultural pressure, the next it’s a sudden flood of crisis or the relentless wind of change that exposes every weak spot in a marriage and family. We dig into what actually keeps a relationship standing when happiness disappears for a while and the problems are beyond your control. The answer is not hype or quick fixes. It’s commitment grounded in something stronger than feelings.

Dr. Timothy Mann walks through Isaiah 43 and gives three clear, practical responses for hard seasons: relax in God’s plan, recognize God’s presence, and rely on God’s protection. We talk honestly about worry, fear, and the exhausting feeling of treading water, then anchor the conversation in God’s promise that you don’t go through the waters alone. You’ll also hear why God often takes us through the fire instead of around it and how taking life one step at a time is sometimes the most faithful strategy.

The second half turns to the winds of change that blow many couples apart: aging, shifting seasons, empty nest, illness, job loss, and the slow realization that neither spouse is the same person they once were. The episode closes with the core Christian foundation for a stable home: Jesus Christ, not sand, and not merely hearing His words but doing them. If this strengthened you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs steadiness, and leave a review that helps more families find it.

Transcript

Series Setup And Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Foundations of Truth. This is the podcast and radio program of Firm Foundations Ministries. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our teacher is Dr. Timothy Mann. Today on Foundations of Truth, we continue our series, Home Security, God's Protection Plan for the Family. Last time we left off, Dr. Mann started a message on shelter your family from the storm. And today is part two of that message. Here now is Dr. Timothy Mann.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

We have to be prepared, not only for the rains of culture, but be prepared for the floods of crisis, adversity that's going to come into and flow into your life. And the key, the key is commitment. Commitment. For better, for worse. The key is commitment. And it's not easy. I understand that. No commitment is easy. That's the key, though. Commitment. Psychology Today had an article that said why marriages last. And that's no Christian publication, by the way. This is just in general. Psychology Today. They went back and they asked people who'd been married over an extended period of time why they got married and what kept them together. And you know what came up over and over again? And that is that in a crisis, the only thing that holds you together is commitment. Commitment. One woman who had been married for 35 years said, you can't run home to mother when every time trouble appears. A man who'd been married for 20 years said, commitment means a willingness to be unhappy for a while. That's interesting, isn't it? Commitment means a willingness to be unhappy for a while. You don't just jump off the ship when trouble comes. Let's see how many folks we can get in to be on to be honest in this room here this morning. How many of you would admit that sometime in your marriage, at least sometime in your marriage, whether it's a day or a week or a year, how many of you would admit that sometime in your marriage you've been unhappy for a while? That's called commitment. It's called commitment. That means you stick with it even when it isn't any fun. By the way, that goes for church, too. I don't like what the preacher said or how he said it or how he looked or how he dressed. I'm leaving.

unknown 2:39

Man.

Floods As A Picture Of Pain

Isaiah 43 And Three Responses

Relax In God’s Plan

Recognize God’s Presence

Rely On God’s Protection

SPEAKER_01 2:41

That's not what you do. It's not always fun. There's going to be an inevitable crisis that's going to come into your marriage, into your family, that's going to happen. It's going to be a death, it's going to be a job change, it's going to be an illness, a crisis, whatever it is. And successful marriages. I'll take it a step further. Godly marriages. Simply have this attitude. We're in this together. We're a team. We're allies. And we're going to work on it. We're actually going to make it work no matter what. And you know what it means when two become one? You know what that means? That means when one hurts, the other hurts. When one's going through a hardship, the other goes through the hardship. That's what that means. It's interesting to me that King David in the Psalms he used the idea of floods over and over. He used the idea of floods to constantly refer to how he was feeling as it related to overwhelming problems. He said things like, the floods of danger have engulfed me, the floods of depression have overcome me. The floods of my enemies. Over and over. He uses the illustration of floods to talk about the overwhelming catastrophes, the adversities, the calamities that come. All of those things that can come in from the outside that you can't control. Some of you may be in that situation right now. Your family is going through some deep waters. Your marriage is going through some deep waters, maybe. And you know that you're just barely keeping your neck above water. You're treading water and you're getting tired. And it's tough. It's difficult. There's a crisis in your life. There's a catastrophe in your life. Maybe it's physical, maybe it's financial. I don't know. But what do you do when you're in a relationship, when you're in a family, a marriage, and you've got this problem and it's so severe that you can't do anything about it. What do you do? When it's beyond your control, what do you do? Well, God tells us what to do in Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43, he tells us three responses. When you're facing a situation, a flood that will overwhelm us, a crisis that's beyond our control that you can't do anything about. He tells us what to do. Isaiah 43, beginning in verse 1. Listen, it says this. But now, this is what the Lord says. He who created you, he who formed you, fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by my name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. He says, three responses. When these crises come into your life, how do you handle it? What do you do? Well, let me give you some suggestions quickly out of that passage. Number one is this relax in God's plan. Relax in God's plan. You might as well relax because you can't do anything about it anyway. I mean, you know worrying never solved a problem. It's a lot like a rocking chair. Sometimes when we go to Cracker Bear, I like to sit in the rocking chair and wait for a few minutes while we're waiting to go in when it was busy, of course. And uh, you know what's you know what I mean? Worrying's like a rocking chair, right? It's a whole lot of motion, but there's no progress. That's what happens when you rock a rocking chair. A lot of motion, but no progress. That's what worrying is like. And so what does he say? He says, Fear not. Fear not. Let me throw you a little bit of trivia. That's very interesting. There's 365 fear nots in the Bible, one for every day of the year. For every day you get up, fear not. So he says, Don't be afraid. Why? Because he says, I've redeemed you. You're mine. I have a plan for you. You're mine, you're bought and paid for. You might not see it, you might not understand it, you might not recognize it. But I've got a purpose behind this problem that I will do in your life. And usually what God wants to do in me is greater than any problem you'll ever face. When you don't see it, you can relax in God's plan. I mean, really, what other option do you have? Worry. Worrying can't, look, worrying can't change the past. It can't resolve the future. All it can do is mess up your present. That's what it does. It just messes up today. It doesn't resolve the future. So we relax in God's plan. What else did he say? He said, I've called you by name. What's God saying? He said, I've got your number, buddy. Little sister, I know you. You're mine. Many times I want to say, Lord, do you actually know the problem I'm going through? Are you paying attention here? Have you seen what's taking place? Right? The struggle. You know what's going on down here? And God says, I know exactly where you are. I know what you're dealing with. I've called your name. I've got your number. I can get in touch with you. Anytime you need me, I'm there. So we relax in God's plan. What else do we do? We recognize God's presence. We have to recognize God's presence. When you're in a situation beyond your control, you recognize God's presence. He said, When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. By the way, did you notice this? He didn't say if you pass through the waters. If you go through the flood. If you go through the fire. He said, What? When? What does that mean? That means, hang on, it's coming. If you've not been there already, it's coming. When this happens, I will be with you. We should take comfort in that this morning. If you're a Christian, that's your promise. I will be with you. You never go through a flood by yourself. You never go through the river by yourself. God is with you. You're never alone. He's here. You need to recognize God's presence. And thirdly, we need to rely on God's protection. God's protection. He said, when you pass through the rivers, they won't sweep over you. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you walk through the fire, you won't be burned. Let me tell you, in your marriage, in your family, if you're in that situation right now, then you need to have this attitude and say, God, we're trusting you to see us through this. We don't like it. We don't want it. We don't enjoy it. God, we're going through a difficult time in our family right now. We're going maybe through the hardest time in our marriage we've ever been through, but we're going to trust you to see us through. We're going to realize that you won't let us drown. You won't let us get burned up. You rely on God's protection. And notice it doesn't say over there in that verse in Isaiah that I read you just a few moments ago. It doesn't say when you walk around the fire. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say when somehow you get to a jump over the fire. It doesn't say that either. What does it say? When you go what? Through. Through it. Why does God say that? Well, that's life. Welcome to planet Earth. Jesus said, the storms come. This is planet earth. That's why this is not called heaven. It's nowhere near heaven right now. There's rains, there's floods, there's wind. You know, sometimes I'd like God just to come to me and say, you know what, we can avoid this one. You don't need to deal with this this time. I'd like to just go around. Just avoid that. But he doesn't do that. He takes you through. He takes you through. I have to say this before I move on to the last point of this sermon. And notice the speed at which you go through. He said, when you walk. I'd like to hop, skip, and jump through it, you know? Man, I'd like to boogie through that. I'd like to just run. Get to the other side as quickly as possible. I want to say, Lord, I don't want this. Let me learn this one real quick. Let's get this over with. Let's get this over with. You know, instead of a two-day illness, let's make it a two-day illness instead of a two-month illness or whatever it might be. Fill in the blanks. How many of you have ever had bad days like that? Maybe months like that. Maybe years like that. The flood is still around.

Partner With The Ministry

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Strong homes are not built on good intentions. They're built on biblical truth. And that's exactly what this program is about. If you believe in helping families stand firm, partner with us at firm-foundations.org. Now let's get back to Dr. Timothy Mann talking more about how to shelter your family from the storm from our series Home Security, God's Protection Plan for the Family.

Prepare For The Winds Of Change

Predictable Life Seasons That Strain

Responding To Change With Growth

Christ The Only Safe Foundation

Repentance And Doing Jesus’ Words

SPEAKER_01 12:13

How do you get through a flood in your marriage? How do you get through a flood in your family? One day at a time. One step at a time. You walk through it. I'm talking about this morning about external problems, these problems that come in on you. The problems in the crisis that come in on you. When you have a crisis that wants to blow away your marriage, you absolutely only have two options. You have two. You have two options. You can either walk out or you can walk through. That's your choice. You can either walk out, and a lot of people do that. They just walk out. Or you can walk through. That's commitment. That's what makes a biblically stable marriage. That's what makes a biblically stable home. And you have to be prepared for the culture we live in, have to be prepared for the crisis we live through. And thirdly, we have to be prepared for the changes that we live with. The changes that we live with. Because we're not only going to have the rains of culture, we're not only going to have the floods of crisis that comes, we're going to have the winds of change. The winds of change. And the word here back over in Matthew, and the winds blew and beat on that house, it's a word that really talks about blowing in from every direction, north, south, east, and west. And they're hard. And they're constantly changing. The fact is, folks, your relationship, your family, your marriage, your home is constantly changing. It's dynamic. It's not static. And by the way, it's the same way with your relationship with God. Your relationship with God is dynamic. It's not static. It's the same with your walk with the Lord Jesus. It's either improving or it's deteriorating. And it may be subtle. You may see subtle changes improving, subtle changes deteriorating, but it doesn't stay in neutral. It's not status quo. So do that checkup with your relationship with God right now, not just your relationship with your spouse or your family. It doesn't just stand still. And if you're not growing together, as you should be, growing together, you're growing apart. The key, and it's this, you're always going to be in change in your marriage, in your family. So the key for success in that is that you actually grow together. You change together in some ways. One of the most common complaints I've ever heard as a pastor over the years, when I do counseling with couples, is something like, we just outgrew each other. Or the wife will say something like, He's not the same man I married. Well, of course not. And you're not either. You're not the same person either. You're not the same woman. You're both not the same. You've both changed. You can't stop change. It's inevitable. You are changing. Your spouse is changing. And you have to be prepared for the changes that you're going to live through. The winds of change, unfortunately, completely blow many couples apart. And all of these changes, these passages, these seasons of life come. And there are predictable changes that everybody goes through. Empty nest, retirement, midlife changes or crisis, menopause, all kinds of things. These things come. They're coming up. Many of you have been through one or two or three or a half a dozen of those already. Some of you haven't experienced all of that yet. They're coming. They're coming. They're going to come your way. So let me ask you, how are you going to handle the changes that come in your family? How are you going to handle the changes that come in your marriage? They're going to come. How do you handle these kinds of storms? And during the life of your relationship, during the life of your marriage or your family, you're going to change emotionally. You're going to change intellectually. You're going to change spiritually. You're going to change in every way. Let me ask you, have you noticed yet that your body is changing? Have you noticed that yet? That your body is changing. It's changing whether you like it or not. Somebody said marrying for looks is like buying a car for a paint job. Right? You know, regardless of the engine. Oh, it's a great paint job. But the paint peels and the paint cracks, and it's kind of it's kind of like the cartoon. A grumpy older couple, kind of bulging at the waist, you know, maybe a little disheveled looking. The wife has been over the stove frying an egg. She has no makeup on or and she has rollers, curlers in her hair. The husband walks up with a picture of their wedding in his hand, and he points to the beautiful bride in the picture, and Lynn looks at his wife and says, Who are you and what have you done with the girl in this picture? And then the wife says, She's probably somewhere else with the boy in that picture. Anyone feel that way today? Don't answer that. Don't raise your hand on that one. Don't raise your hand. Listen, change is not always for the better, but it is a fact of life. It's a fact of life. Let me ask you, are you going to put up with it or are you going to walk out? Elizabeth Elliott, wife of Jim Elliott, one of the missionaries several years ago that died in South America, she wrote and she said this. She said, The fact is your provider may someday lose his job talking to wives. The fact is your provider may someday lose his job. Your strength may show unexpected weakness. Your knight in armor may experience a public defeat. Your teacher may make a serious mistake that you warned him about. Your lover may become a helpless patient, sick, sore, and sad, needing your presence and care every minute of the day and night. This isn't the man I married, you will say, and it will be true. But you married him for better or for worse in sickness and in health. And those tremendous promises took into account the possibility of radical change. That's why the promises were necessary. So what are you going to do? What's your option? When the rains of culture and the floods of crisis and the winds of change beat against your house, are you going to have a stable foundation? You know, when change comes, you can respond a lot of different ways. You can reject it, you can resist it, you can resent it. A lot of people do that, or you can relish it. You can take advantage of it. You can make the most of it. You can learn from it. You can let it be an opportunity for growth. You can let it keep you from being dissatisfied with your life. If your person, if your person never changes, if you've got them all figured out, you're going to be discontent. You know, one of the things I love about my wife is she's so complex, it's going to take the rest of my life for me to try to figure her out and understand her. That's a good thing. And we're growing and we're changing. And the bottom line is that God wants to use your family. He wants to use your marriage. He wants to use your home. He wants to use your relationship for his glory first and foremost. By the way, how many of you actually figured this out yet as it relates to the Christian thing? As it relates to being a follower of Jesus? Have you finally figured this out? It's actually not about you. It's not. It's not about you in your marriage. It's not about you in the church. It's not about you in serving the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to use your marriage and your relationship for his glory, for the kingdom, to build the kingdom of God, to reach other people with the good news of Jesus Christ. And then secondly, he wants to use it for your growth. Secondly. And part of maturity, part of a solid marriage, is you just keep growing together. You keep growing up together. I want to ask you this morning, which of these pressures are putting a strain on your home? Which of these pressures are putting a strain on your marriage and your family? Just like the wind, just like the rain and the floods and the wind, these storms can strain a house to its breaking point. They also do that in a family. What is it that's really bothering you today, struggling in your life? Have you been conned by the world's value system? It doesn't work. Jesus said, one man built his house on the rock, one man built his house on the sand. Those are the value systems. What is the rock? Well, in the context of Matthew 7, Jesus said, My teachings, my sayings. What's the foundation of a stable marriage? What's the foundation of a stable relationship? 1 Corinthians 3.11, the Apostle Paul was talking about laying a foundation. He says everybody ought to be careful about how he builds in verse 10, but then in verse 11 of chapter 3, he says, For no one can lay any foundation other than the one which is already laid, which is Christ Jesus. The foundation for a stable marriage, the foundation for a stable home life, the foundation for a stable church. Look, it's not just principles, it's not just these six easy steps. It's a person. It's Jesus Christ. Oh, Christ is solid rock I stand. All other ground is taking sand. It's Jesus who's the foundation. And that's not just saying, yeah, I believe in Jesus. No. Jesus said it's hearing these teachings of mine and what? Doing them. Applying them to My life. Putting them into practice. Jesus basically said, if you hear these things of mine and you do not do them, you're a fool. You're a foolish man. James said it this way. Him who knows to do right and does not do it, it's sin. It's sin. And what's going to happen is these things are going to come against you. These rains, these floods, these winds, and your house is going to fall. And it's not just going to teeter, it's not just going to totter, it's not just going to kind of slump down a little bit. No, the Bible says Jesus said, and great was its fall. And great was its fall. So maybe this morning you need to relax in God's plan. Maybe you need to remember his presence. Maybe you need to rely on his protection. But first and foremost, if you're not, listen, if your life is not on the foundation of Jesus Christ, you've got to get off the sand and get on the rock. And you do that by turning. By turning from sin and self, from your old selfish way of doing things, of living life. And you turn, you repent of those sins, and you embrace. You believe. Not just with your head, not just with some kind of mental ascent to some sort of set of facts about a historical Jesus. No, look, he's the Son of God, He's the Almighty God. He's the one who will absolutely turn your life around. He'll get you off the road to hell and put you on the road to heaven. And he'll give you a purpose for living from this day till the day he takes you home to heaven. That's who he is. You embrace him with your heart. He paid your price on Calvary's cross and he rose again from the dead to endue you with the power you need to live a life that honors him and glorifies him and to give you eternal life starting now and into the hereafter. What's your need this morning? Would you have enough guts? Would you actually have enough intestinal fortitude, enough courage to say, I'm gonna do, I'm actually gonna do the teachings that Jesus said. I'm gonna do them. Because, dear God, I don't want my house to fall. I want to storm protect my family. I want to storm protect my marriage. Maybe you've gone through some stuff. Maybe it was your fault. I know we've got our stuff we've been through. We've had second chances and third chances. I've received a lot of God's grace through my wife. I'm grateful for her. Look, I don't want to mess that up ever again. It's not too late. Doesn't matter where you are, on your spectrum, your house can fall. It's not enough to hear his sayings. You have to do them. You have to do them. You have enough courage this morning to say he's going to be my foundation, and then I'm going to build my life, my marriage, and my family on him.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Foundations of Truth is a presentation of Firm Foundations Ministries, Foreman Beach, Florida. If you'd like more resources or to listen to this program again, go to FirmDash Foundations.org. You can also listen weekdays at 10 a.m. on 990 AM 101.5 FM, the word Orlando, Florida. We are a listener-supported program. Your donations help keep us on the air. You can give a gift right now at FirmDash Foundations.org. And thank you for listening.