Guest Post
Rebekah Lyn
Reblogged from Rebekah Lyn’s Kitchen
The word anchor has many definitions, most obviously an item used in boating to secure the vessel, but also, according to Webster’s online dictionary: “a reliable or principal support; something that serves to hold an object firmly; a broadcaster (as on a news program) who introduces reports by other broadcasters and usually reads the news; the member of a team (such as a relay team) that competes last; a large business that attracts customers to a shopping center or mall.”
Most of these definitions are positive. When you go out on a snorkeling excursion, you want your boat to be anchored, so it doesn’t float away and leave you behind. In planning a shopping center, you want to secure big-name stores to anchor the property and generate business. During a hurricane, homeowners may use heavy weights to prevent outdoor furniture from blowing away. Vendors at craft fairs often use anchors to prevent their tents from flying away.
However, there can be negative sides to anchors. If a storm comes up and drags the anchor while you’re snorkeling, you can get tangled in the rope, trapped underwater until you drown. Or an anchor can be something invisible: guilt over past mistakes, unforgiveness, career, worry. These can weigh you down, taint the way you look at the world, and enslave you until you feel just as overwhelmed as the swimmer tangled in the anchor rope.
There is another anchor, though, one that a storm can’t dislodge, one that only has positive outcomes. That is the hope that believers have in Jesus Christ. He is steadfast, unchanging, unshakeable. His character is the same from the beginning of time to the end. Throughout the Bible, we are told we can call on God in any circumstances. Before Jesus returned to Heaven, He promised His disciples that He would send them a helper, the Holy Spirit, to live inside them. He followed through on that promise on the day of Pentecost and he continues to follow through as new believers join the faith each day.
We experience the Holy Spirit’s presence in different ways during our walk of faith. When we first believe and accept the gift of grace God offers us, we are excited and feel completely alive in the Spirit. But as time wears on, if we don’t nurture that relationship and seek time in God’s presence, we feel more distant from the Spirit. However, we are the ones who moved away, not the Spirit, not God, not Jesus. They are right where we left them, steadfastly waiting for us.
In this week leading up to Palm Sunday, consider where you’re at in your walk. Are you communicating with God, reading His word, listening for His direction? Or are you distracted by colorful adventures and sights that have led you astray? Are you ready to sincerely proclaim: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”?
Jesus is our living hope. As I’ve mentioned before, the world’s hope is uncertain, built upon sand, but the living hope of Christ is solid and steadfast, able to overcome all difficulties. Isn’t that something to shout about?
Don’t forget to check out the resources page I am developing with content I have found encouraging, has taken me deeper in my walk with God, and generally builds my hope.