Our Anchor

This morning I read a devotional by A.W. Tozer in his book “Tozer on The Son of God.”  It was a powerful devotional titled “Our Anchor in the Storm.”

What struck me about this devotional is how much it mirrors the world today.  The world around us is filled with uncertainty.  We have a pandemic; we have quarantines and if that is not enough, we have riots in the streets during a Presidential election year. If you allow those things to be your only point of focus the world can be a dark place.

In the devotional there is this looming storm, and there is this boat full of people.  The passengers on the boat are in full panic mode focused on the Typhoon in the direct path of the boat.   They can see nothing but death and destruction ahead but suddenly one voice says, “but, we have an anchor.”

You would think that would calm the passengers, but not this group.  The water was too deep to see the anchor.  Since they could not see it, they could see no way that the anchor could hold against this storm.

As I read this devotional to the end the anchor did hold and all survived.  I thought of several passages from God’s Word as I was reading this devotional, the first was Jesus sleeping on the boat.

Jesus in the Storm

Most people know the story of Jesus sleeping on the boat as a storm comes up, terrifying the disciples.  You can find it in Matthew 8 beginning in the twenty-third verse.

Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV), Jesus Calms a Storm

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

These men felt confident that they would die.  They could not grasp how safe they were with Jesus in the stern resting.  They could not see Jesus, so, like the folks who could not see the anchor, they found no comfort or certainty in Jesus because they could not see him, so they woke him from His rest and complained.

Jesus Calms the Storm

When Jesus was woken, I don’t think he was as much angry as he was disappointed.  He looked at His disciples, and the first thing He said was

Matthew 8:26 (ESV)

²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”…

Jesus had performed miracles and taught them so much, but they did not grasp the fact that he had no limits, but yet they felt certain that He could save them if He were awake and saw the ferociousness of the storm.  But when he calmed the wind and the sea they were amazed.

Matthew 8:26-27 (ESV)

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

They had seen something that shook their belief systems. Jesus had done a lot of amazing things, but he had calmed the sea and wind and that was more than they could imagine.  How could it be?

Reflections

I read this story of the sea’s calming and consider the devotional this morning and the wonder of God’s Word, and I cannot help but be deeply humbled.

There used to be a part of me that would think… “Wow, I sure wish I could have lived back then and walked with Jesus as the disciples did,” but that was long ago before I knew what I know now.  We have a gift today that the disciples did not experience until after Jesus’ ascension and then Pentecost; we have the Holy Spirit. The promised helper Jesus spoke of in John. This promise of being never alone.

A Promise

Jesus, more than once, speaks of the promise of a helper.  But I love how he conveys this in John 14.  I love how Jesus begins this promise.  First… If you love me…

 John 14:15-17 (ESV)

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

At the end of verse seventeen, he explains that “You know him, for he dwells with you and WILL be in you.” I read that, and it is so exciting, but at the same time you must wonder what went through the disciple’s minds. Did they grasp who Jesus was talking about when he said, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”  Did they grasp that He was speaking about Himself or did it simply go whooshing over their heads as He continued with verses 18-22? I will not leave you…

John 14:18-22 (ESV)

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” ²

What a powerful promise Jesus shared with his disciples.  One that today, is ours as well.

The Promise Plus

There are a couple of things that I need to add before closing.  In John 14, when Jesus speaks of the gift of the Helper, He opens with an “if/then” statement which can be misconstrued if you do not read it carefully.

John 14:15-16 (ESV)

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

If you are not careful and read this verse in haste it could sound as if Jesus were putting a works’ clause in this promise.  But if you look at it closely, you can see that is not the case.  He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It does not say, “If you keep my commandments and love me…”

The way Jesus explains this reminds me of a passage in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them*.

Our salvation is all a gift, including the works laid out ahead for us in which to walk.

Closing Thoughts

The wonder of God’s presence in my life is sometimes overwhelming.  The Holy Spirit… Jesus is such that there is nothing that we cannot endure.  He is and will always be our anchor in the storm; If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31).

I am filled with thanksgiving as I consider all these things.

Prayer

Today I will close with a prayer written by Paul for the Ephesians.  I replace the plural pronouns with I or me when I read it to make it more personal…  but it is also a powerful prayer for friends and family.

Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV), Prayer for Spiritual Strength

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

*Emphasis added