Hope Anchored In You

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but when desire comes, it is a tree of life.”
Proverbs 13:12

No one wants to walk in a place where there are no choices, no solutions or places of growing ground. We hope for the best and walk towards a driven God-given goal. But when there is delay, you can easily be effected. The best solution for us is to always have our hope anchored in Him! 

A brief review of Wikipedia states the following:

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα (ankura).

Anchors can either be temporary or permanent. Permanent anchors are used in the creation of a mooring, and are rarely moved; a specialist service is normally needed to move or maintain them. Vessels carry one or more temporary anchors, which may be of different designs and weights.

I love this synopsis of what an anchor signifies. It is a strong base and used to connect one from the other in an effort to keep it steady. For us as Christians, we can say that our whole life has to be anchored in God. And our hope should be anchored in Him. He is the one that keeps us firm and in place during all the seasons of our life. For hope is one of the greater things the bible mentions that we should remain in.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

What happens when that hope starts to dwindle? When our hope is put to the test. The bible says when our hope is deferred [postponed, or delayed; suspended, withheld for or until a certain time or event] our heart can grow sick [deeply affected with some unpleasant feeling].

I used the Wikipedia reference so that we can gain a better understanding of this concept. That connector is our source. The anchor prevents the craft from drifting. It can be temporary or permanent–all dependent upon how you choose to keep it there. They also are designed in different sizes and weights. So this anchor is truly UP TO YOU!

You decide how long you keep your hope in Him.

You decide if that will be temporary or if that will be permanent and consistent.

You decide how big your God is by putting that to test with your faith.

I want my anchor to be huge and carry such a weight and value– Mighty in God! For just like Moses–he saw a big God capable of speaking through a burning bush, capable of parting a massive sea, capable of sending food from the sky, capable of hiding through rocks, and moving through clouds and pillars. This can all be our experience too from day to day if we have our hope settled and anchored in God! That should not move. That should remain the same even when things look bleak.

Maybe you are hoping for your wedding day to come. Maybe you are hoping for healing. Maybe you are hoping for a financial breakthrough. Maybe you are hoping for a job or a home. Maybe you are hoping for any other miracle…and things seem delayed. Keep your hope and your faith lit up all the time! Keep believing, keep trusting and keep waiting. For if God said He will do it then HE WILL DO IT.

When we put our hope in anything other than the King, we place ourselves in dangerous territory. Hope in a man or a woman. Hope in just a paycheck. Hope in a particular career or even a degree. Those natural things are amazing but the hope has to be in CHRIST and everything else will follow.

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”
Matthew 6:30-33 MSG

So let’s keep our hope anchored in our King. Let us put all that trust to Him first and He will work out the detail in everything else. For even having all these things, there is nothing as fulfilling as having such an intimate communion with the One who is never going to leave our side.

Declare it! “I Don’t Want To Drift Anymore!”

You know I was driving through the methadone center and I see the addicts passing through and my thought is…they could very well believe that there is NO HOPE for them. That there is nothing else left. My heart cries out to those in need. I am so glad that we bring so many of them into our church to help, to provide and to uplift. They think no one wants to bother with them.

In listening to a recovering addict at a recent fellowship event, this one publicly stated, “When I was at the end of my rope, hope in God was ALL I HAD LEFT! That is what kept me alive!”

Hope is what we have left! And it works! Don’t let that dwindle or die down. Keep it fanning and burning alive. Let your hope be anchored in God. When your hope is anchored in Him, you will have the best choices, the best solutions and always a place of growing territory to tread upon. Nothing will move that. Keep that steady everyday.

~HOPE ANCHORED~