What Storks Can Teach Us About Building on a Solid Foundation

Some things in life are only as strong as what they’re built on.

You can have the most beautiful house in the neighborhood, but if the foundation underneath it isn’t secure, eventually there’s going to be a problem.

Apparently, storks understand this pretty well. I was reminded of that during a trip to Spain when an ordinary drive through the countryside turned into an unexpected lesson about faith.

An Unusual Sight in Spain

While exploring the Spanish countryside, I noticed something unusual. Perched on top of some of the houses were enormous nests. White storks had made themselves at home on the chimneys, and several were busy caring for their young.

I stopped to watch them for a while. One particular stork flew down into a field, grabbed a mouse, and carried it back to her fledglings. When she returned, she landed on the rim of the nest. Nothing moved.

The nest didn’t tip. It didn’t wobble. Despite the weight of the bird landing on top of an already massive structure, everything remained firmly in place. That got my attention.

Storks Know Where to Build

I later learned that stork nests can become incredibly heavy—weighing up to half a ton.

When you’re building something that large and raising your young inside it, where you put it matters. A flimsy branch isn’t going to do.

Storks look for sturdy places capable of supporting their homes, which is why they can often be found nesting on structures such as electrical poles and brick chimneys. They need something solid underneath them.

Watching those birds made me think about the foundations we choose for our own lives. We may not be building enormous nests on rooftops, but we’re all building something.

The question is:

What are we building it on?

Jesus Had Something to Say About Foundations

In Matthew 7:24–25, Jesus said:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

Jesus tells us about two people who built homes. From the outside, those houses may have looked perfectly fine. The difference was underneath.

One builder chose rock. The other chose sand. And the true quality of those foundations wasn’t revealed until the storm arrived. That’s usually when we discover what we’ve been building our lives on too.

We All Build on Something

It’s easy to say that Christ is our foundation. But sometimes the way we live tells a different story.

Without realizing it, we can start depending on a career, relationships, financial stability, future plans, our reputation, or even our own abilities to make us feel secure.

None of those things are necessarily bad. The problem begins when we expect them to provide something only God can give.

People change. Careers end. Plans fall apart. Finances fluctuate. Circumstances shift.

Anything in this world can become uncertain, which is why it was never meant to carry the full weight of our lives. When we rely on those things as our foundation, we’re building on something that can move beneath us.

We’re building on sand and expecting it to hold like rock.

The Storm Reveals the Foundation

Nobody particularly enjoys storms. We’d much rather build a life where nothing difficult ever happens. But Jesus didn’t say the house built on rock would avoid the rain. The rain still fell. The floods still came. The winds still blew. The difference was that the house remained standing.

Following Christ doesn’t mean we’ll never experience disappointment, loss, uncertainty, change, or pain. It means we have something underneath us that doesn’t move when those things arrive. That’s why our foundation matters before the storm begins.

The middle of a crisis isn’t the ideal time to start deciding what we believe about God.

We build that foundation day by day.

We spend time in His Word.

We pray.

We obey when it’s inconvenient.

We allow Scripture to shape our values and decisions.

We learn His character.

Then, when the winds begin to blow, we’re standing on truths we’ve already learned to trust.

Building on Christ Requires More Than Hearing

There’s another important detail in Jesus’ words. He doesn’t simply say the wise person hears His teaching. The wise person hears his words and does them. That’s the part we sometimes overlook.

It’s possible to know a lot about Scripture without allowing it to change how we live. We can read the Bible, listen to sermons, attend church, and know all the right answers while still making our decisions according to what feels easiest, safest, or most popular.

A solid foundation isn’t built simply by knowing what Jesus said. It’s built by trusting Him enough to live accordingly.

What Is Supporting the Weight of Your Life?

Those storks in Spain weren’t casually choosing a nice view. They needed a foundation strong enough to support a massive nest, themselves, and their growing family. They were putting a lot of weight on whatever they chose.

So are we. We’re placing our families, futures, decisions, hopes, fears, beliefs, and eternity somewhere. That’s worth thinking about.

What is carrying the weight of your life right now?

Maybe your security rests in circumstances that could suddenly change. Perhaps you’re depending on another person who, despite their best intentions, may disappoint you. Or you might be relying on your own ability to keep everything under control—until something comes along that’s completely beyond it.

All of those foundations can shift. Christ offers something they can’t. A foundation that doesn’t move.

Build Before the Storm Comes

I don’t know what storms may be ahead. Neither do you. But we can decide today what we’re going to stand on when they arrive.

Like those storks carefully choosing a place sturdy enough to hold everything they’ve built, we can be intentional about the foundation beneath our lives.

Let Christ be the foundation of your heart. Turn to His Word when making decisions. Allow His truth to shape your values. Find your identity in who He says you are.

Then when circumstances change—and eventually they will—you don’t have to wonder whether the foundation underneath you will hold.

Jesus Christ is still solid. And whatever comes, we can rest knowing we’re securely grounded in Him.

Faith Step: Take a few minutes to consider what you’ve been relying on for security lately. Is there an area of your life where you’ve begun trusting a person, plan, possession, or pursuit more than God? Ask Him to help you place that part of your life back on the solid foundation of Christ.

A New Book in the Works

I’ve always enjoyed noticing the unexpected ways animals can remind us of biblical truths. Those moments are also inspiring a new book I’m currently writing called When Animals Preach, scheduled to release in late 2027.

The book will feature a collection of my own animal-inspired devotionals, each exploring lessons about faith through encounters with God’s creation.

While When Animals Preach is a separate project, I’ve also had the privilege of contributing several devotionals to Guideposts’ All God’s Creatures Daily Devotions 2027.

Grab your copy here: https://guideposts.org/shop/product/all-gods-creatures-daily-devotions-2027/

If you enjoy stories that connect animals, everyday life, and faith, you can pick up a copy of All God’s Creatures Daily Devotions 2027 and find several of my contributions alongside those of other writers.