It’s known as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, in which, tragically, 3000 people died in that city as the result of the quake and the fire that followed.

At that time, the tallest building in San Francisco was the Spreckels Building, completed in 1898 by the very wealthy John D. Spreckels. When planning the building, Spreckels instructed his architects to dig down through the sand, upon which San Francisco was built, to the rock. “How far shall we go?” the architects asked. Tersely Spreckels replied, “Until you strike the rock. And when you strike the rock, that’s to be the foundation; then you can build.”[1] The Spreckels Building survived the earthquake—damaged by fire, yes, but the structure is still standing today.

When Jesus preached what we call “The Sermon on the Mount,” He closed his message with this instruction:

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is like the person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matthew 7:24-27 NLT).

When it comes to building your life, the comparison is the same. Whether it’s a flood or an earthquake that strikes, if your life is built on the Rock Christ Jesus, you will not collapse. The psalmist David wrote, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:1,2 NLT). Build your life upon Him and you will stand through the calamities of life.

[1] Dr. Charles D. Price, “Peace, a Fruit of the Spirit,” Golden Grain (Seattle,WA: 1929), 20