ANCHOR - Hillsong Worship
(“Your name is higher, your name is greater. All my hope is in you. Your Word - unfailing; your promise - unshaking.”)
PART ONE: STORY TIME. 😌
The year is (most probably) 2021. Mum is going on a work trip so she carries my brother and I along. On the days she goes to work (which was every day), we explore this little village by the coast. Around the third day of our adventure, my brother and I considered it best to head out to the middle of the ocean on this little boat manned by two fishermen who were speaking a language neither of us understood. 😂
In hindsight, I am not quite sure how we willingly got onto that boat. In that moment,l thought, the sun was shining (scorching actually) and the waves were pretty still.
Hm. 🤣
Not over an hour later, we were a great distance from the shore, and overhead, the clouds gathered. In no time, it started raining heavily. Our little boat started to cave under the force of the current - and water started to seep into it. I was drenched to the hilt from the rain. The fishermen started to speak in panicked voices. In a language we did not understand. 😭
My entire life flashed before my eyes. I remember for a split second realizing I might easily become food for the ‘mijini’ we used to hear about at the bottom of the ocean.
The fishermen set up a sail to guard against the wind and rowed us safely (but with incredible difficulty) back to the shore. I couldn’t speak for over two hours. 😹 Meanwhile the sun came out again when we reached the shore. (🙄)
I recalled this story recently. If we’d had an anchor on that little boat, we’d probably have been far more confident that we would see the next day.
PART TWO: THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Our God is a stronghold. An ever present help and strong defence.
He is a restorer too. No experience, no moment is ever wasted in God. He exchanges our ashes for His Glorious Beauty. 💜
PART 3: THE ANCHOR ⚓️
When the Spirit brought this story (and allegory) to mind, I went down a rabbit hole of researching the concept of an anchor and its relevance on a boat. (The Word lets us know that the earthly things ought to teach us the principles of the heavenly realm😌.)
As it turns out, during a heavy storm, the sailor usually casts an anchor out to the bottom of the sea. When it sinks to the bottom, the anchor latches firmly onto a rock and in turn, it is able to hold the boat firmly in place until the storm weathers out. This guards the boat against ‘being tossed to and fro by the waves and wind.’
Overtime, I am learning the concept of hope as it relates to the Word. In our lives as His children, our hope is that we shall inherit / realise the manifest fulfillment of the promises that our Father has so graciously made concerning our lives (both on earth and in eternity).
It was this hope that made all the fathers of faith (and God’s generals) eventually see their promises come to pass. Our hope can therefore not at any one point be rooted in anything or anyone else but the One deemed faithful enough to fulfil all that He promises.
The Word describes this hope we have in Him as the anchor for our souls. It holds our lives firmly in place when the storm gets rough. And the storm will always get tough - without a doubt.
“This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], [Lev 16:2] Hebrews 6:19 AMP
I also found it pretty interesting that when the anchor is cast out into the ocean, it latches onto a rock at the bottom of the sea. The Word reminds us over and over that Jesus Christ is the rock on which we stand. He is the One that lifts us out of the slimy pit, sets our feet on a rock and give us a firm place to stand. Solid ground. ❤️
Hope is not really Hope unless it is rooted in the promises of the Living God. Unless it is anchored in the Rock that is Jesus Christ and everything He has promised.
Another concept I found really catchy was the fact that when the ocean rises (because of the storm), the sailor casts the anchor to the bottom so the boat remains still and firm in one place . This is precisely what we are called to be when the storms of life come rushing in: to be still (and know that HE is God). Only then can our Saviour reveal Himself as the one who rebukes the wind and commands the waves to be still on our behalf.
May this Word always ring true for you. ❤️
