The other day when praying over the phone with my awesome prayer partner I had a picture of a boat anchored in a storm come to my mind. The last few months I have been fascinated with anchors. I asked my cousin Josh, who has worked on boats for years and has his captains license, what is the purpose of an anchor in a storm. He told me that “the anchor can keep you in place, despite the raging storm all around you.” If the water is shallow enough where you can use one it helps the boat not blow off course. One does not want to set sails in heavy wind; because the sails could tear or the boat could even blow over. If the water is deep there are three options. One of which is a sea anchor. Mainly, what I confirmed from him was that an anchor steadies the boat in place to survive the storm so the course is not lost. Afterward, the boat is able to keep on the same trajectory and move forward in the mission.

Currently, there is a lot going on in the world around us; but Jesus is our anchor during this time. I picture each of us as a boat on a journey. Yes, storms will come. However, we can be confident that our anchor will hold fast; because our anchor is Jesus. Now is a time where it seems a lot of us are on pause in our journeys to wait out this storm. I have faith that in time this storm will pass and we will be able to pull up anchor and keep sailing on our journey till the next storm.

We do not have to fear for the Lord is with us. “We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus our forerunner, has gone before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek” Hebrews 6:19-20.

I am reminded of the story with the disciples and Jesus on the boat.

“Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm” Matthew 8:23-27

The passion translation in verse 26 says, “But Jesus reprimanded them. ‘Why are you gripped with fear? Where is your faith?'” I think this is such a good scripture for this time. We need not to be gripped with fear; but to stay in faith. How do we do this? “We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze unto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection” Hebrews 12:2 TPT. “For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control” 2 Timothy 1:7.

I just wanted to encourage you all not to give into fear. If you find yourself getting anxious or overwhelmed shift your focus back to Jesus gaze into His fiery eyes. He will burn out anything not of Him and that includes fear! Beloved the Lord is with you in this time. Wherever you are in the world He is with you. If you are on the front lines in the hospitals His angels surround you and protect you. If you are at home struggling with anxiety or depression I pray right now that the light of the Lord comes and shines brightly into your home that you experience His joy unspeakable and full of glory! I pray for peace that your feet be girded with the gospel of peace. Know as a believer wherever you are you are a light! Your presence can shift atmospheres, especially now. People recognize those who carry joy and peace in this time.

Why can we have joy and peace no matter the circumstances? Only thanks to Jesus! “We thank God for giving us victory as conquerors through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 TPT. “So be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in Adonai, your God. For He gives you the early rain for prosperity, Yes, He will bring down rain for you, the early and latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain and the vats will overflow with NEW WINE AND FRESH OIL. ‘I shall restore to you the years that the locust, the swarming locust, the canker-worm and the caterpillar have eaten…So it will be Afterward, I will pour out my Ruach [Spirit] on all flesh: your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Also on the male and female servants will I pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth…” Joel 2:23-3 TLV.

I know the Lord is with each of you holding you firm and secure in Him in this time. Remember Jesus is your anchor! “We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself” Hebrews 6:19. I love these lyrics from the song Cornerstone.

“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Savior’s love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil.”

Jesus is this hope that is the anchor of our souls. In the Old Testament no one could ever measure up to the law or be made perfect by it. “The old order of priesthood has been set aside as weak and powerless…in its place is a far better hope which gives us confidence to experience intimacy with God!” (Hebrews 7:18-19). “Through our union with Him [Jesus] we have experienced circumcision of heart. All of the guilt and power of sin has been cut away and is now extinct because of what Christ, the anointed One, has accomplished for us…He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all-our sins, our stained soul-he deleted it all they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto His cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were His!” Colossians 2:11-15.

Jesus came and established a much better covenant full of wonderful promises! God sent His son to reconcile man back to Himself so that we could have relationship with Jesus intimately. Jesus is our hope. I love that we can run and hide ourselves in His faithfulness! He is so good and so faithful. We need not be afraid, but can fully trust Him.

Above is a picture of an anchor from a museum I visited. The plaque above it read “Ships of the period typically carried as many as seven anchors. The largest is called the ‘sheet anchor,’ or the ‘anchor of salvation.'” I loved that the name of this anchor was the anchor of salvation; because Jesus it our anchor of salvation.

Jesus is our unshakable hope! “We have a superior covenant than what they experienced, for Jesus himself is our guarantor! …Jesus permanently holds His priestly office, since He lives forever and will never have a successor! So He is able to save fully from now throughout eternity, everyone who comes to God through Him, because He lives to pray continually for them” Hebrews 7:22,25-26.