A couple of weeks ago we had some really tough winds up here in the North Country. The next day we traveled to a nearby town and on our way by an oil change shop we saw lying on the ground, just a few feet from the building, a huge sign. One of those monstrous signs that was designed to be seen from half a mile away from the nearby interstate. A friend from church and my two oldest boys Kevin and Taylor were with me and we just had to go back and take a look. As we drove up close to the sign it looked like the insurance adjuster was taking pictures of the damage. We saw at the base where this one legged sign had stood the night before a chunk of concrete that hadn't budged. There had been a clean break. The four bolts that held the sign to the concrete had snapped.

I don't know if there was something defective about those bolts but one thing was clear. The 75 mph winds had found that sign's point of weakness.

Seeing that sign toppled from its foundation made me think about how firmly I'm attached to the foundation of Jesus Christ.

If I'm prepared for the strong winds of life, and they will come, my faith in Jesus Christ will be strong.

There are a couple of ways of strengthening our bond to the foundation as followers of Christ that are critical we give our attention to. We must communicate often with our Heavenly Father and we must read God's Word.

It's a little too easy for us to get swept up in the busyness of life and neglect our connection to the foundation. And when the storms of life rage we flounder and sometimes topple under the force of the blows.

But when we're faithful about communicating with our Heavenly Father and committed to the study of God's Word and the application of it to our lives, we'll find we can better weather life's trials?our connection to the foundation is secure.

When trials come into your life will you be blown from your foundation? Or will your application of the Word to your life and your relationship with the Lord through prayer be strong enough to help you weather the storm?