Day 182

1 Kings 15–16 | Matthew 7

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Some storms hit suddenly.

Others you see coming.

And sometimes, the hardest place to stand…

is in the calm before the wind.

That’s where I am right now.

The layoff has been looming for over a year. And while my own end date is still a month away, this week marks the real beginning of the unraveling. Because in just two days, nearly every team member who reports to me—people I’ve led, mentored, defended, and done life with—will log off for the last time.

Some I’ve worked with for over a decade. We’ve shared more than meetings. We’ve walked through miscarriages and marriages. New babies. Lost parents. Burnout. Breakthrough. Setbacks. Success.

They’ve never been just employees.

They’re friends.

And while I still have a few weeks left before the final page turns, it’s already begun. The slow ache of goodbye. The guilt of staying longer. The strange dissonance of watching them pack their bags while I keep answering emails.

The storm hasn’t hit me yet.

But I can feel it in my chest.

Foundations Always Get Revealed

Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with one of His most iconic word pictures:

The wise man builds on the rock.

The foolish man builds on the sand.

The rain falls on both.

And that’s the point.

Storms aren’t selective.

The difference isn’t who gets hit.

The difference is who stands when it’s over.

And standing doesn’t come from spiritual swagger or self-confidence.

It comes from anchoring your life in Christ.

In His words.

His promises.

His sufficiency when everything else crumbles.

Because storms don’t just test what you’ve built.

They test where you’ve built.

A String of Kings Who Never Learned

The reading in 1 Kings 15–16 is brutal.

King after king refuses to turn from evil.

They ignore God’s voice.

Cling to their idols.

Build on sand.

And the whole kingdom fractures because of it.

But the story doesn’t end with them.

Because God wasn’t just watching them fail.

He was preparing the line for a better King.

A truer one.

One who would walk straight into the fiercest storm of wrath to save a people who deserved to be swept away.

Jesus is the Rock.

And even when we fail as leaders, parents, employees, friends—He doesn’t.

Let the Delay Become the Deepening

I don’t know what your storm looks like.

Maybe it’s already overhead.

Maybe you’re watching it move toward the people you love.

Maybe, like me, you’re still standing in the strange quiet of almost.

But what if this in-between moment isn’t wasted?

What if it’s where the roots go deeper?

Where the foundation gets checked?

Where Jesus draws close, not in the thunder, but in the whisper of “I’ve got you”?

Because standing firm isn’t about strength.

It’s about where you’re standing.

And the Rock doesn’t move.

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Lord, thank You for the warning signs. For the mercy of the in-between. For letting me see the storm before it hits so I can build where it’s safe. Help me love well as others enter theirs. And prepare me for mine. Make my foundation deeper, stronger, truer—not in myself, but in You. Amen.