Anchored Firm
Daily check your foundation for any cracks or weak areas.
Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most innovative architects this county ever produced. But his fame was not limited to the United States. About 90 years ago, Japan asked Wright to design a hotel in Tokyo that would be capable of surviving an earthquake. When the architect visited Japan to see where the Imperial Hotel was to be built, he was appalled to find about eight feet of earth on the site. Beneath that was 60 feet of soft mud that slipped and shook like jelly. Every test hole he dug filled up immediately with water. A lesser man probably would have given up right there. But not Frank Lloyd Wright.
Since the hotel was going to rest on fluid ground, Wright decided to build it like a ship. Instead of trying to keep the structure from moving during a quake, he incorporated features that would allow the hotel to ride out the shock without damage. Supports were sunk into the soft mud, and sections of the foundation were cantilevered from the supports. The rooms were built in sections like a train and hinged together. Water pipes and electric lines, usually the first to shear off in an earthquake, were hung in vertical shafts where they could sway freely if necessary. Wright knew that the major cause of destruction after an earthquake was fire, because water lines are apt to be broken in the ground and there is no way to put the fire out. So he insisted on a large outdoor pool in the courtyard of his hotel, "just in case."
On September 1, 1923, Tokyo had the greatest earthquake in its history. There were fires all over the city, and 140,000 people died. Shortly afterward, Wright got a telegram from Japan. The Imperial Hotel was completely undamaged. Not only that—it had provided a home for hundreds of people. And when fires that raged all around the hotel threatened to spread, bucket brigades kept the structure wetted down with water from the hotel's pool.
The Imperial Hotel stood firm even in the face of one of the nation’s deadliest tragedies because it was anchored firmly by its creator. The key to its stability was its foundation.
As a Christian, the key to your stability or faithfulness is your foundation. What is your life founded on? Your degree, job, hobbies, or friends? The only way you will be able to survive the tragedies of life will be if your life is anchored on Christ and His Word.
Jesus told Peter that he would be the foundation of the first century church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against the church. Christ was and still is the Chief Cornerstone of New Testament churches, and Peter was the human servant He used to establish His church. Because the church was founded on the Lord, Jesus promised that not even Satan himself would be able to prevail against it!
As Christians, our lives should be founded on God’s Word. Each day we must spend time with God through His Word. Do you wonder why you struggle through the day sometimes, battling and many times losing to the devil? Check your foundation! Are you spending time with God each morning? If not, make it a priority to found your life on God’s Word so that when life’s trials come, you will safely stand with God’s help.
Source: DITW, January 24, 2009