Anchors Overboard

“Fearing we might run aground on the rocks, we dropped…anchors…and prayed for daylight to come.” Acts 27:29

I so love the Bible and how it records history at the same time it breathes life and truth into our circumstances. This is one of those verses when so many Christian principles can be paralleled to Paul’s accounting of an actual event.

There are times in our lives when each of us has feared running aground…crashing into the rocks. One of the times for me was 17 years ago when I had been steering my own ship loading it down with cargo I had purchased without Bruce’s knowledge. I would sneak things home, hide them in the back of the closet and race to the mailbox day after day to intercept the bills. This journey on the high seas went on for 3 years until I saw the rocks up ahead when God awakened me at 4:00 in the morning. His message was crystal clear…I was to wake Bruce up and tell him the huge amount of debt we were in. I wrestled with God over this for about an hour and eventually unable to breathe I knew God had prevailed. He promised me that night that if I fully trusted Him that we would get through this. And so, I finally dropped anchor, prayed and for the next 6 months waited for daylight to come. God worked in Bruce’s heart to forgive me…to reinvest in our marriage…to trust me. My part was what it always seems to be…to surrender something and allow some accountability to keep it surrendered. It is easy to lay something down, but the challenge is not picking it up again.

This morning I am wondering where are you dropping your anchor? What daylight are you waiting to see? If we are not careful, there are many unhealthy anchors we may drop like I did trying to survive our circumstances. We might drop in one too many bars…we might drop in one too many stores…we might drop anchor in tempting situations knowing it’s dangerous. None of this produces hope. It is only when we drop to our knees and allow God to be our anchor in all storms that hope begins to form in our hearts.

‘So, hope is the prize. Hope is the end goal. Hope is what grows when the garden of grief and suffering is tended. It is something to treasure in my heart – something that when I feel it, I want to notice it. Because hope means that I have survived, I persevered, and my character is stronger because of it.’ Looking for Lovely, Annie Owens, p. 21

Hope ascends when we descend before God, and there is nothing like hope to keep us encouraged…joyful…peaceful until the storms have passed. It helps us see the streams of light in dark times.

“We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and steadfast.” Hebrews 6:18-10