What is an anchor? An anchor is a heavy metal object, usually shaped like a cross with curved arms, on a strong rope or chain, that is dropped from a boat into the water to prevent the boat from moving away:
The main reason a ship needs an anchor is to ride out storms so that it is not blown off course or into the rocks or reefs. Even in a safe harbour, a ship needs an anchor so that it will not drift, hit something or sink.
Whether in the storms of life or in the harbour during the calm times of life, we all need an anchor for our souls so that we do not destroy our lives. There is so much deception in the world at the moment and only those who have a strong anchor will not be drifted.
Abraham had his storms as he waited on God. In two different moments of weakness, he thought that powerful men would take his wife from him, so he lied that Sarah was his sister. Genesis 20:2
At another moment of despair, he took Sarah’s maid, Hagar, and conceived Ishmael. In spite of these failures, in hope against hope, he believed until God fulfilled the promise.
We all face numerous types of storms that threaten to rob us of our hope in Christ. There are storms of false doctrine that can blow some Christians off course.
We must stand by holding firmly to the promise of salvation in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone.
- There will be storms of doubt;
- storms of persecution;
- storms of the existence of God and salvation. We can overcome them by coming back to the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, which is the bedrock of our entire faith. 1 Corinthians. 15:1-19 If Jesus is not risen, our faith is in vain. But if He is risen, then our salvation is certain and our hope can rest confidently in Him.
There will be storms of difficult trials, where we wonder why God is allowing them and question whether He loves us. We can overcome and have the victory by remembering that God, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, has promised to bring us through every conceivable difficulty or challenge to ultimate glorification especially at this time.
There may be storms of defeat, where we fall into sin. We can overcome even these storms if we realise that Jesus our High Priest is sitting at the right hand of the Father praying for us, that our faith may not fail, and that by His grace, we can be restored.
As Christians living in a world that Paul describes as “having no hope and without God, we should stand out as people of hope. The hope is the anchor that God has given to us to hold on, even in the times of storm these times of so much unrest and uncertainty.” Ephesians 2:12-14
We have a high priest within the veil. He has promised to save all who take refuge in Him. Let’s continue to take hold of our hope in Jesus!
Written by: @lydiaspeaks_ministry
Photo courtesy: ©Lynda Hinton/ Unsplash