Many of us have seen the two paths so very clearly; one focusing on self and the other on God. One is sold out to the loud counsel of our will, our emotions, our feelings and our desires. The other path show us an ugly cross resting on top of the horizon line. That cross seems so un-important, un-charismatic, un-attractive and distant.  Little-by-little, we move away from it, distracted by the affairs and tribulations of life.  The deceitfulness in the boat-of-self has carried us so far away from the way of the Master. Our hearts feel so cold. The waves of bad decisions and the arrogance of our will, has left us without a sense of direction. We are unable to find the compass that faithfully points to the north, to the way up.

            Many of us have experience some storms in our lives and have developed an arrogant confidence that the house of our character is strong enough to stand against the rain of bad news and terrible circumstances. We have even redirected the rivers with our own ways, as we defiantly challenge the natural flow of nature. We foolishly look out the window as the winds blow, beating against our homes with great fury. Our will, our emotions, our feelings and our desires were strong enough to carry us through some severe weather as they were tangled up with our well groomed forms of godliness. But the day of the perfect storm is near and at that hour many will be like the foolish men destined for a great crash:

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them to practice

is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat

against that house and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt. 7:26-27)

            Self will always crash! When are we going to learn that? When our will is locked on self, when our emotions take the place of the guidance of the Holy Spirit; when our feelings become our light and our desires carry the crown of our hearts, falling with a great crash is inevitable. Matthew 10:39 gives us an answer that is totally contrary to the “I did it my way” mentality of the world and at the same time, gives us the formula for real success: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

            This means that we are called to live a life consecrated to the realization of other’s dreams; a life that does not look for his own, a life of one who does not defend himself, that never makes it about him or her, that is not interested in wining; but a life who is fully aware of what pleases the Lord and has given him or herself to that purpose. Perhaps you already faced that shameful crash and now you look around at the sudden destruction and how all that you thought was significant is now gone. That my friend, could be the end of self and the beginning of a great castle for the glory of God, an unmovable castle with a strong foundation on Jesus, strong enough to resist any storm; a castle that will never crash, not because of your strength, but because of the strength of our King.