TWo Castles
David Ortiz
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine... like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came
down... yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and
does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down... and it fell with a great crash.” -Matthew 7:24-27
The 2017 Short Term Mission Trip
to Piura was a humbling experience.
There were two significant events
that God used to teach me a
valuable lesson. The first was when
a brother was working on a ladder
when suddenly, the base lost friction
with the ground and it slid away from the supporting
wall. As the brother fell to the ground, he grabbed
onto a metal stud causing two deep cuts in his hand as
he slid to the ground.
I realized how fragile our human bodies are and how
the same body can suffer severe damage that could
permanently change our anatomy in a split second.
The streets in Piura lack lanes and stop signs resulting
in cars frantically speeding past one another and
busy nonsensical intersections. As I was walking
the streets, I was distracted by the new sights and
unknowingly walked into the middle of a busy street.
A car was speeding towards me when an attentive
sister yelled at me and I quickly got out of the street.
I was so grateful that nothing serious occurred. If I
had remained distracted, who knows how severe the
injures I would have sustained.
Our lives are insignificant in our vulnerability to
death. It does not need to be a construction accident
or a distracted driver for our end to come. Our lives
can come to an end through any variety of means.
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan. All
these men have their names entrenched amongst some
of the greatest conquerors throughout history. Their
reign was well-known and expanded across numerous
foreign lands. Many today aspire to achieve such
heights figuratively. Some want their names printed
on a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, others
want their faces to be on billboards and voices heard
by millions. People can strive their whole lives trying to
achieve some impossible goal.
But in their eventual deaths, the world continues to
spin without them. No death will prevent the human
race from moving forward and in time, their fame,
empires, fortune, and recognition are forgotten.
Hope is not lost because God
presents us with an everlasting
Kingdom that we become a part of.
Our existence is insignificant. But hope is not lost
because God presents us with an everlasting empire
that we become a part of. Unlike any worldly
construct, God is all powerful. He spoke the universe
into existence and He knows every detail about it. God
is limitless and beyond our comprehension. He casts
his eyes on us insignificant beings and invited them to
become part of His Kingdom founded on love. On
this world, we are insignificant, but it is God who gives
us purpose and meaning; in Him we have life.