Thursday, February 21, 2013

What's Holding You?

Acts 27:29

Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight

My anchor grips and holds the solid rock, that rock is Jesus!

When I’m out fishing and the wind is against me, it is important that I have an anchor that can hold me steady while I’m trying to remain productive. All of us whether on water or on dry land have experienced times when the winds were against us. Like the old gospel songwriter said, “like a ship that’s tossed and driven, battered by the angry sea,” we have all been at the mercy of the wind.

I was watching footage of the Carnival Cruise Ship that lost its power and the four thousand people aboard were just drifting for days with little food, no plumbing, no air. One woman began to cry as she recounted the terrible ordeal. She said, “The wind just took us where it wanted, we almost gave up hope.”

The Apostle Paul was on a ship that was powerless in tremendous storm called the “Northeastern.” The wind threatened to break the ship up. They threw their cargo overboard, tied ropes underneath the ship, and dropped four anchors. The last thing they did was prayed for daylight.

Have you ever been there before. You got rid of everything you could think of that was dragging you down, you paid off what you could pay off, you did what you could do and the only thing left was just pray that you would make it to the morning. Paul said they dropped four anchors. What are the four anchors you need to drop that will hold you until the morning?
  1. Belief. He or she who prays must do so believing that God is able. It is impossible to please God without faith.
  2. Endurance. Weeping may endure through the night but Joy comes in the morning. Sometimes the only thing you can do in a storm is to wait it out.
  3. Courage. When the disciples were in a storm on their little boat, Jesus came walking to them on the sea and he said, “Take courage, it is I!” Sometimes when the storms of life are raging we have to take courage that Jesus will come and see about us.
  4. Prayer. Prayer is the anchor that holds us close to God so that we will not drift through the night. Paul prayed through the night that they would see the daylight. While you are praying, God is working.
No matter what storm you are facing right now, I suggest to you this morning to drop four anchors and pray for daylight. It’s morning time and the storm is about to break.

Dear Father,

 Keep us through this storm so that we can experience the break of day. I know that you have not bought us this far to leave us! I feel the breaking of day.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing these very comforting words. We all have our ups and downs in life even to the point that we break down and cry for fear of losing hope but these things will remind us that as long as we have Jesus in our lives, that flicker of hope will turn into a blazing fire of success. :)
    - MantusAnchors.com

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