“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;  and it fell not:  for it was founded upon a rock.” Matthew 7:24-25

A farm hand applied for work at the ranch of a West Texas landowner.  “What are your credentials?” asked the rancher.  The farm hand said, “Well, sir, I am honest.  I will work hard. I can sleep well on windy nights.”  The rancher did not fully understand the answer, but he hired the farm hand as he did appear sincere, trustworthy, and industrious.

All went well for several weeks until one of those famous West Texas wind storms came up.  The rancher awoke and ran to the bunkhouse.  Finding the farm hand asleep he shook him and said, “The wind is blowing hard. You need to go tie everything down so they won’t blow away or the livestock escape.” The farm hand said calmly, “I told you, sir, that I can sleep well on windy nights.”  He turned over and went back to sleep.

The rancher rushed out to see all the tools were securely tied down.  The livestock was safely stalled.  The doors were tightly closed and were locked.  Then he saw what the farmhand meant.  He went to bed every night prepared for a storm.  He did not have to worry.  He had thought ahead and planned for the inevitable windy night.

Jesus commended the man who built his house upon a rock not on sand.  When the storm, rain, and flood came, the house stood.  When your home is built on a rock, you can sleep well on windy nights.  When your soul is resting on the Rock of Ages, you can sleep well when the winds of life blow.

You and I need to prepare for death and troubles.  They will surely come.  Our lives must be rooted in eternal things – salvation, the Bible, the Blood, Heaven, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The windy night is coming.  By the victory of the Gospel, we can sleep well on windy nights!