Foundations

When you are building a new home, the absolute most important thing you must do is build a good, solid foundation.  You can't even start building walls until that foundation is laid and has passed numerous, sometimes frustrating inspections, where the inspector nit-picks every little thing until it gains his approval.  It can often be a costly and time consuming process.  Even after completing construction on a new home, you may have to come back and do foundation work as time goes by and the ground shifts.  In the part of the world I live in we have pretty sandy soil, ground shifting is pretty common and shows up in the form of cracks on the walls.  If your foundation requires repairs it can be both a costly and invasive process.  Repairing a foundation requires digging, lifting, and inserting concrete or steel for support.  However, although it can be costly, it is sometimes necessary to ensure the integrity of a building.  Without a strong foundation a building cannot stand.
The same can apply to our spiritual foundations.  There are at least 75 references to foundations in the Bible.  As a Christian, there is only one option for our spiritual foundations: Jesus. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11 NLT.  Before we can build anything we must have a solid faith in Jesus and in what he has done for us on the cross.  If we have a solid foundation, even when a storm comes (and unfortunately they do) we will be able to stand.
Just like our homes, we may need a little foundation repair in our spiritual lives from time to time.  When we go through a trying time in our lives we may see some shifting and changing.  There may be times when we need to dig down and focus back on that foundation of Jesus.  If we start trusting too much in ourselves and we let our focus get off of Him, that could cause some cracks in our walls that will eventually need to be addressed.  Just like with a house, when our foundation is being fixed it can be a frustrating, timely, and sometimes painful process.  We want to be comfortable and just ignore the cracks on the walls sometimes.  It's easier to just slap a new layer of paint over them and pretend they aren't there.  In our spiritual lives this could come in the form of putting on an overly religious facade or maybe passing judgement on others to make ourselves feel better.  Been there for sure.  I have probably fallen on both ends of that spectrum from time to time.  However, the cracks will always eventually show through.  You must dig in and deal with those foundation issues if you ever want to have the strong structure God intends for us.
Not all foundation work is because of a problem, however.  If we wanted to add on to our house (which would be nice now that my 3rd kiddo is here), we would have to start from the bottom up.  You cant just start slapping up walls without first having a foundation to attach them to.  In our spiritual lives we should always strive to grow.  If  God is trying to move us to a new level in our faith, he may need to do a little foundation work first.  If he is going to build another room we have to have a foundation that will pass inspection.  God will never start putting up a new wall if our foundation isn't ready.  He will do whatever work is necessary and take as much time as He needs to to prepare that foundation.  We must not lose heart during those foundation-building times (easier said than done, I know).  “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT.