Apr 30, 2025
Researchers at the Institute for Business and Home Safety in
Richburg, South Carolina, built two identical
1,300-square-foot houses inside a $40 million laboratory.
They wanted to see how these homes would hold up against a
hurricane. The first house was constructed to standard
building codes—nothing fancy, just the usual. The second house,
though, had reinforcement straps connecting every level—from
the foundation all the way to the roof.
Then they flipped on the giant fans, blasting winds up to 110 miles
per hour, the strength of a Category 3 hurricane. In the first
two tests, lasting less than ten minutes, both houses stood
firm.
However, in the third test, when the winds roared for over ten
minutes, the conventional house began to tremble. Before long,
it collapsed into a heap. The reinforced house? It took some
cosmetic scratches, but it stood tall. Tim Reingold, an
engineer on the project, boiled it down to one question:
“Which house would you rather be living in?”
Here's what's interesting. As Jesus wraps up his sermon on the
mount, he makes a similar analogy, but instead of just building a
house, he wants his listeners to think about what foundation they
are building their lives upon.
Why does Jesus conclude his sermon in this way? It matters, because
according to Jesus--storms are coming!
To learn more about what Jesus teaches about how to prepare for the
storms of life, check out the conclusion of our series on The
Sermon on the Mount.