The Foundations Are Being Destroyed

In Habakkuk’s day, politics were corrupt, the religious leaders had abandoned God’s Word, and professing believers had begun to look just like the world around them. Evil was applauded while godliness was mocked. It was a time of staggering corruption. You were not safe even in broad daylight.  When crimes were committed, the guilty got off scot-free. We know from the other prophets of the day that divorce was rampant, sexual perversion was embraced, and the people were illiterate when it came to God’s Word. No one remembered his biblical roots and foundation
 
Just a few years before, Judah had enjoyed the blessing of God under King Josiah. Josiah was a king who sought the Lord with his whole heart. He led the nation in a moral and spiritual revival. But under the successive leadership of his sons the nation’s spiritual foundation quickly broke down.
 The most important part of any structure is the foundation. Before you ever make an offer to buy a house, you pay an inspector to crawl under the house. If that foundation is deficient, you are in trouble. Big trouble.
 
There has been no more graphic illustration of the importance of quality concrete foundations than the earthquake that hit Turkey in the summer of 1999. One day Turkey was a thriving nation. The next, it was demolished. At first it was very surprising to the authorities that on the same street certain houses collapsed while others just a few feet away stood strong. But then they recognized a pattern. The houses built according to code withstood the earthquake. The ones that had bypassed the building code collapsed immediately, and usually the problem was the foundation.
 
Who could have imagined that something so simple as faulty concrete slabs could lead to so many broken lives, broken families, and a broken nation?
 
The foundation is critical to a building. The foundation is also critical to a nation.

—Steve Farrar

Steve Farrar is the author of many books, including the best-sellers Point Man and Finishing Strong, with his new book Battle Ready: Be Strong and of Good Courage in These Troubled Times soon to be released. Learn more at SteveFarrar.com.