Fifteen years ago I went on a mission trip to Mexico with my son and the youth group at our church. We took some cursory Spanish lessons before we left; enough to get us by.

At one point in our visit we were having a church service outdoors at a waterpark. Our group was helping lead the worship alongside the missionary couple who had started a church there. We were leading the worship singing in Spanish and then we each were to say one or two words that represented Christ in our life.

Mine was mi ancle which means my anchor in English. I chose that because that is what Christ had been to me. Little did I know how much He would be that for me in the coming weeks, and He has continued to be in the ensuing years.

Is life weighing you down? Do you feel like a raging torrent is carrying you along and you are gasping for breath? Do you feel overwhelmed with stress and adrift in an endless ocean with no land in sight? Do you feel worn out and beaten up like a piece of flotsam tossed in the waves of life?

HOLD ON! Hold on to the anchor called Jesus.

He is the grounded rock you can cling to in the middle of the raging waters.

He is the strong anchor that holds you steady.

He is the gentle breeze that slowly yet steadily takes you where you need to go.

He is the loving arms that lift your head above the waves.

HE IS.

When nothing else makes sense, when your world is falling apart, when your heart feels like lead, when you can’t see more than one step in front of you through the thick fog surrounding you and you don’t have any answers; He is!

“…I AM WHO I AM.”

Exodus 3:14

Before anything existed He was! He spoke EVERYTHING into existence!

Pause and think about that for a moment. Is there anything in existence with more power and glory than our God? Take a moment to go outside and lift your eyes to the night sky. HE knows each star, each planet, each comet, each asteroid, each rock, each pebble, each molecule that is floating around out there…..because He made them and orchestrates it all!!!

Maybe you think, “Yeah well, that is out there and I am down here.”

Pause and think; just think. The fact that you can have a reasonable, logical thought, that you can feel, see, taste, hear and experience the world around you is a miracle! God knows your mind, your heart, your skin, your organs, your blood and each cell in your body and makes them all work together so you can have that thought.

Pause and think about His glory, His grace, His love and His promises.

Then look around you.

None of it matters. It is all smoke and mirrors. It is all dust. The only thing worth holding on to, the only thing of true substance is Jesus Christ. Our Holy God! Our Anchor.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

Hebrews 6:19a NIV

“Men began to see that a Kingly Spirit stands unbroken, unbreakable before all the blows of life, because the Spirit of the Living God within a man is stronger than any enemy there is!” St. Stephen’s Protestant Episcopal church Bulletin

Lord remind me to look up when I feel like I am going under. Remind me to HOLD ON to You and Your Word. Remind me it is all about You and YOUR glory. Holy God, let me hold it all with open hands except for You; mi Ancle!

Be well!

Patricia