An Anchor

A few days ago while driving in the car someone on the radio said the word "anchor".   I can not even remember what the person used the word in reference to. What I do know is that as soon as I heard the word it instantly triggered in me a memory....a song. And I immediately began singing the song out loud. These are the words I began singing....

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll
Fastened to a rock which can not move
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviors love

This is the chorus to a song that we sang in church when I was a girl. I don't think I have sung it too often since then because I sang it to my kids and they are not familiar with it. It is in our song books that we use in Coldwater though. I will have to check the books in LaGrange. I'm not sure if we have it in our books there or not?

It got me to thinking how important song is in our spiritual lives. The goal is for me to "store up His word in my heart so that I will not sin against Him" as it says in Psalms 119:11. I need His word in my heart to be able to draw on and use in a moments notice when I need it....to make quick decisions. In order to have it in my heart I need to be IN the word as much as possible. I often can not tell you book, chapter and verse of the scripture, but I know it is in there somewhere. It has been planted in my heart. Song plays such an important role in being filled with the Spirit as it says in Eph. 5:18-19 "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." Put scripture to song and rhythm and it often more easily becomes ingrained in our hearts and allows us to "store his word in our hearts". God knows that to be the case. That's why song is such an important part of our worship to Him.

So, I came home that day and looked up where the word "anchor" is used in scripture. I came up with Hebrews 6:18-20 where it says, "God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

SO POWERFUL isn't it?!! The certain hope of our future salvation is an anchor to steady our souls while we wait on God during our present storms of life.

And my mind goes to the pictures of anchors of ships that I have seen. Being a Michigan gal this would be anchors from the mighty ships that have/do sail the monstrous Great Lakes. Those things are massive....I mean massive. Here is one we have seen. This is the anchor from the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Imagine how firm and secure the anchor God provides to steady my soul during the storms of life. It's such a comforting thought!

Here are the words to the song in it's entirety:

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

It is safely moored, 'twill the storms withstand,
For 'tis well secured by the Savior's hand;
And the cables, passed from His heart to mine,
Can defy the blast, thru strength divine.

When our eyes behold thru the gathering night
The city of gold, our harbor bright,
We shall anchor fast by the heavenly shore,
With the storms all past forever more.

Chorus:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which can not move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love

Love, Wendy