Beware the Hardpan

The Call to Build Wisely

Recently, I had a heartfelt conversation with someone I’m discipling. She’s in a season where life feels heavy and overwhelming, and like many of us, she was facing decisions that carried real consequences. As we talked, I encouraged her to slow down and really examine her heart. Proverbs 4:6 says, “Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.” God calls us to seek wisdom, because wisdom guards and sustains us.

The truth is, many of our hardest struggles aren’t just about our circumstances—they flow from the choices we’ve made and the foundations we’ve built on. When we make decisions impulsively, or based on what we hope something could be rather than what it really is, we’re setting ourselves up for cycles of disappointment and pain. Sometimes, without realizing it, we glamorize our decisions because we’re chasing comfort, stability, or relief from loneliness. But if a foundation is built on what feels good in the moment, it won’t hold when life gets hard.

Photo by Heber Davis on Unsplash

And this is why God’s call to wisdom is so important. True wisdom isn’t just about making “better” choices, instead it’s about building our lives on the only sure foundation: Jesus Christ. The path of wisdom is the path of following Him. The wise hear His words, understand them, and submit to them. The foolish may hear the same words, but they walk away unchanged, building on something far less secure.

As I was unpacking these things and sharing them with my friend, a passage from Scripture came to mind. In Luke 6:46–49, Jesus tells a parable about two builders: one who dug deep and built on the rock, and another who skipped the hard work and built without a foundation. His words put into perspective exactly what I was trying to communicate: true wisdom means building our lives on Him.

Jesus’ Parable of the Two Builders

Here’s what Jesus says in Luke 6:46–49 (ESV):

Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

This illustration would have resonated with Jesus’ original audience because it drew from real-life building practices in Palestine. Much of the soil in that region was covered with a surface layer called hardpan. It looked solid on the surface, and builders could be tempted to think it was strong enough to serve as a foundation. But hardpan was deceptive. Though firm on top, it could not withstand flooding or shifting weather. A wise builder would take the time to dig through the hardpan and reach the bedrock below. That process required extra effort and patience—but the end result was a foundation that could not be shaken.

Jesus’ parable captures this exact contrast. One builder did the hard, unseen work of digging down deep, while the other took the easy way out. Both houses might have looked fine at first, but when storms came, the difference between them was undeniable.

What Are You Building On?

The same is true of our lives. Building on hardpan is like building on our own desires, impulses, or comfort. It may look strong enough at first, but it’s not anchored to anything lasting. It will crumble when tested.

Building on the rock, however, means aligning our lives with the words of Jesus. Notice that He doesn’t say the wise builder is the one who hears His teaching. Both builders heard. The difference is obedience. The wise builder is the one who hears, digs deep, and obeys. That’s the only kind of foundation that endures storms.

Think of how easily we can be tempted to settle for surface-level foundations. For some, it shows up in relationships when we enter into them for financial stability, validation, and lust rather than for godly love and covenant commitment. For others, it plays out in career decisions, where appearances, and the comfort of “success” seem more important than seeking the Lord’s guidance. And for many of us, it happens in the small, everyday choices when we try to avoid pain or suffering instead of allowing God to do the deeper heart work of transformation.

This temptation is not limited to just those areas. It can be seen in parenting, when decisions are shaped more by culture’s expectations than by Scripture’s call to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. It can be seen in how we handle money when we trust in worldly security rather than living with generosity, stewardship, and confidence in God’s provision. It can be seen in the way we invest our energy, focusing on image, influence and reputation instead of cultivating character that reflects Christ. It even shows up in how we pursue community when we choose what feels convenient or popular instead of committing to a local church where accountability and discipleship actually happen.

All of these may look stable for a time, like hardpan soil. But without a foundation anchored to Christ, they will never hold when the storms come.

Jesus—The Solid Rock

I love how Jesus begins this passage saying, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (v. 46). Those words still cut to the heart of the matter. Many of us want a Lord who will bless us, comfort us, and smooth out the rough places in life, but not one who calls us into obedience. Yet Jesus is clear: it makes no sense to cry out to Him as Lord and then ignore His commands. True blessing is found not in asking Him to endorse our plans, but in submitting our lives to His Word.

That’s what makes His parable both a warning and an invitation. The warning is sobering: if we build on anything other than Christ, the storms of life will expose our foundation, and collapse is inevitable. But the invitation is just as powerful: if we build on Christ, anchoring our lives to Him and obeying His Word, we will stand firm no matter what comes.

The storms will come. The waters will rise. But the house built on the Rock will endure.

So the next time you’re faced with a decision, whether big or small, ask yourself: Am I calling Him Lord while refusing to obey? Am I building on hardpan that only looks solid, or am I building on the foundation that truly holds?

Only one foundation will stand. And His name is Jesus.