Shaken Foundations

Shaken Foundations

Thud! Thud! The old, wooden farm house trembled slightly. Thud! It was pitch dark and my husband and I were suddenly woken up. The eery screeching, hissing and growling coming from under the house bore a resemblance to a wild cat. Thud! Again the house shook slightly. It was a territorial fight between two wombats who had both decided to claim occupancy under our house in the inky darkness of night. Their noisy and dramatic fighting pushed them into the brick foundations of our house. My husband flicked on the light switch, flooding the room with brightness. Thud! The fighting continued. Pulling on blue jeans and work boots, my husband wearily traipsed out into the darkness to solve the problem.

Wombat

Wombats are an Australian marsupial. They are a heavy set animal, short legged, muscular and only about one metre in length, with a short stubby tail. They are a burrowing, nocturnal mammal which lives at the end of a long, well dug tunnel. They have a backwards facing pouch that when they are nursing their young within, they are still able to dig burrows and not get soil collected inside their pouch. Wombats emerge at dusk to feed through the night on the rough, wild grasses of the Australian landscape. They are generally slow movers, plodding along swaying gently from side to side, however when faced with danger they can take off at a quick run. Their greatest protection is a solid plate in their backside which they use to push against and corner the enemy within their tunnel, thus crushing it to death.

Baby wombat peeking out from his pouch

Wombat burrows

The thudding, screaming and wild noises continued under our house as my husband, in the silver light of a half moon, grabbed the garden hose, turned on the outside tap until the water ran at full force, spurting from the hose. Crawling on his hands and knees he aimed the hose towards the howling noises under the house and allowed the water to shoot forth in a torrent of coldness. Suddenly one wombat rushed, wet and disgruntled from under one side of the house and the other raced, sodden and miserable from the under other side. Quietness reigned once more.

This was not the first time our sleep had been disrupted by fighting wombats. It was time to solve this problem permanently. Our house stood on brick piers ranging from 30 centimetres in height to well over a metre. We were seriously concerned about the impact on our foundations that the wombats were having.We decided on a plan of action. We would fence in under the house. This could not be any fencing. We needed something extremely strong, immovable and something that could be buried well below the surface by a good metre in depth. My husband used very heavy wire fencing and with much effort he secured it firmly to the outside foundations and digging in earnest, he entombed the bottom of the fencing deep within the soil. The foundations of our house were now secure.

For many years after we fenced under our house, from time to time a wombat would amble past in the darkness of night and desire to retreat under our house. However, the heavy wire fencing always created an obstacle for them. Rhythmically they would push and bang and thud their bodies heavily against the wire and when that failed to secure their entrance, they would resort to digging, deeper and deeper. Alas the wire was always deeper then they could dig and the wombats would eventually give up the struggle and move onto grazing through the night once more.

Many times in life the foundations of who I am in Christ, loved by God, treasured and precious, and my purpose in Him, to glorify His name are shaken. We too experience the wombats of destruction as people fail us, hurt us, discourage us and knock us down. Sometimes we feel shrieked at, hissed upon and struck. The blows may be seen by no one, felt by no one but they wound us deep in our souls, where another can never know. God places the fence of His promises as a protection around our foundations. Believe God, His words are true. Allow Him to protect your foundation in Christ today.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

2 Tim 2:19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His,"