RJ Hamster
The Thing I Was Building Wasn’t Strong Enough :…
DERICK JEROME
EDUCATOR & SPOKEN WORD ARTIST
When the pressure hits, it doesn’t create the cracks. It actually just reveals them.
There was a moment recently where I realized I was off. There were shift that were subtle enough to ignore if I wanted to.
I noticed I was reaching for voices (my pastors, peers and ministry leaders) before I reached for God. Searching for someone to explain the Word instead of sitting in it myself. Looking for an educator when I was actually being invited into intimacy and it revealed something in me to me.
A misplaced dependency.
That realization is what made me start this DISRUPTED Series.
Series: DISRUPTED: The holy undoing before the real rebuilding
There are seasons where God doesn’t just adjust your life but He dismantles it. Not to destroy you, but to expose what you’ve been standing on. DISRUPTED is a four-part journey into those moments when everything familiar starts to crack, when what felt stable begins to shift, and when faith is no longer theoretical but tested.
This series is about the holy undoing, the necessary breaking before anything real can be rebuilt. Because before God builds something that lasts, He will always reveal what cannot.
Part One: Shattered
Matthew 7:24–27 (NLT)
Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with a comparison that is not about intelligence, effort, or even morality. It is about foundation.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
He continues by describing two builders. One builds on rock. One builds on sand. The same storm hits both. Only one structure remains.
This passage is not primarily about the storms but more so it is about exposure.
Jesus is showing that pressure does not create failure. It reveals it.
Two key words help us understand what Jesus is actually saying:
House (Greek: oikia) This word refers to more than a building. It refers to a constructed life and what has been formed over time. That can be habits, decisions, beliefs, internal patterns.
Jesus is not talking about building literal homes. He is talking about formation within a generation and within people.
Fell (Greek: pipto) This word means to collapse completely, not to erode slowly. It describes a full structural breakdown.
This matters because the collapse is not partial damage. It is the exposure of something that was never secure to begin with.
What Jesus Is Teaching
The difference between the two builders is not visible during construction. It only shows up under pressure. Both builders heard the same words. Both builders experienced the same environment. Both builders went through the same storm.
The difference was the foundation.
Jesus is revealing that truth isn’t validated in the lesson alone but in the trial. Storms do not create the instability. They show you where it is. That means there are areas of life that feel fine, until pressure hits. This shows up in our relationships. Decisions. Identity. Emotional resilience. Even faith.
What Jesus is addressing is not failure in that pressure and hard times but misplaced confidence in stability that was never tested.
So the real question is: What happens when what you built your life on starts falling apart? Ask yourself this because that’s what Jesus is exposing.
The shattering is not always punishment. Its not always a “why me” situation. Sometimes it’s clarity and it comes from uncomfortable and trying times.
To go a step further we have to understand and believe that whatever cannot withstand the pressure was never built on the right foundation.
Prayer:
God,
For every person reading this, please meet them in the place that’s starting to crack.
Where things feel uncertain, speak clarity.
Where foundations feel shaky, bring truth.
Where they’ve built on what can’t last, give them the courage to let it fall.
Don’t let them run from the pressure—, but instead let it reveal You.
Rebuild what matters.
Strengthen what remains.
And anchor every life here in something that cannot be shaken.
Amen.
If you want a more interactive lesson or way to reflect with God you can start the first 7 days of the When Dust Speaks devotional for free here:
https://bmwtogether.kit.com/dfa92f0e21
If you want to sit with these themes slowly, the full When Dust Speaks devotional book is available here:
https://www.amazon.com/When-Dust-Speaks-Spoken-Devotional/dp/B0FBGS45SG
Read with me next Monday for Part Two of the Series: DISRUPTED: The holy undoing before the real rebuilding
With you,
Derick
