It was a spring morning the last time my daughter and I stood on the beach. The cool waves crashed around us and she got a kick out of the way the sand shifted beneath us and how quickly I sunk leaving her several inches taller than her mother.

That moment on the shore came to mind recently as I sat at our local church camp and sang The Solid Rock with a pavilion full of kids between the ages of 11-13. As their beautiful voices rang out in the night I thought of all the other grounds I had visited.

Too often we allow ourselves to bask in fear, jealousy, inadequacy, and hatred. Often we plant our stakes in the midst of pride and set our worth on accomplishments, wealth, or a pursuit of happiness that always seems to lead us further away from God.

We wear ourselves out building kingdoms on sand and then spend too much money on psychiatrists, counselors, and self-help books trying to figure out why we fill so empty.

Could it be that it’s because we tune into the world more often then we hear the voice of God? He tells us what his plan is for our lives but we refuse to listen.

Jesus didn’t mince words when he spoke of our purpose in Matthew 28:19-20. Plainly, he declared for us to go into our little parts of the world, make disciples, baptize them and teach them all that he commanded. God made it simple.

Why do his children continue to complicate it?

Build your house on the Rock (Matthew 7:24). Offer others the opportunity to change because Christ changed you. Tell everyone what he has done and what he will do. Remember that every where your feet are, is where your mission field is.

Regardless of how enticing it may be, all other ground is sinking sand.

–by Paula Harrington