The hope that I have is a left alone tether. Below the surface I am a witness to the dropping of the anchor. Beneath the waters I view the disturbance of the giant stones plunge, I hear the indigenous sound of underwater mayhem as the ancient anchor makes its way to the bottom, and the oceans must give room for this space and weight. Striking the bottom a billow of water dust giving up its place for the salvation of what is up above. Clearly now the remnants of the ocean bottom have settled into their new location while the anchor presupposes what was their bed. The tether to the anchor stretches to straight and the anchor settles in…the long rope moves but stays straight because the anchor holds and unaltered by my witness.
The hull of the boat above me, the anchor below me and I take account of the relationship between the two. The boat moves the anchor does not. The boat sways and turns and the anchor is steady. The boat is being tossed by waves and wind that I cannot see from here, the evidence is clear that something is going on up there. The anchor, it seems, doesn’t change with the wind in waves. The anchor I notice is the same regardless of the surface. The anchor is steadfast in the calm and the storm.
Only beneath the surface can I see the anchor clearly. Beholding to the murk and rock. It doesn’t strain, it doesn’t move, it seems to be indifferent to conditions above either calm or calamity. So beneath the water I trust the anchor. I hear the sounds of same. Same is the water at these depths regardless of the waves above. Now that I have seen and heard the anchor in action and it can only be describes as…..STILL. Still still.
The sailor in that boat, is he scared of the storm? Is he crying out for help? Is he flashing through his journeys history denoting what brought him to this place and denouncing his own will to live? Oh If he could see what I see, Stillness…If he could hear what I hear….Still. My voice cannot carry from the depths regardless of my screams of “The Anchor is Steady!! The Anchor is secure!” “You are not holding to the Anchor…The Anchor is holding you!” He can’t hear me, he can’t see me. My witness is mine, his witness is his. I appreciate him weathering the storm and I do not discount the fear and trembling cracks of thunder and bright whites of flashing streaks. But the anchor will save him, the anchor will secure him. The anchor is his unrealized hope.
YOU HAVE HOPE! Your storm is no match for Jesus. This hope is not a maybe or could be hope. It is a sure thing because Jesus does not change. The storm will probably continue then eventually fade. You may change, but the anchor will not. The tether will not snap in two though you be broken. Cry to God in the storm, behold his strength. Confess your lack of faith in the rain, and be warmed. Close your eyes to the blinding lighting strikes around you and see hope in the dark. The storm does what a storm does but you are not alone. That ominous sound of crashing white capped waves may knock you to your knees but the tether is tight and the anchor does not have to flex nor recoil to handle the strain. You are Ok Be still. Be comforted.
Hebrews 6:19 WE HAVE this HOPE as an ANCHOR for our Soul-Firm and Secure.
~Pastor Glen
Way Church.