Kingdom Calling Blog…

During worship this morning at church, having listened to a dear friend preach on Jesus’ miracle of walking on water and the storms of life…God reminded me of a great length of chain I had seen on the side of the Thames in Greenwich. The chain was attached to an anchor and I felt him say for some of you ‘It’s time to pull up the anchor’.

Let me just backup slightly and give you some context for the picture…The preach highlighted that in life, just like the disciples, we are not exempt from the storms and that the disciples needed constant reminders that Jesus had them, they didn’t need to panic and they just had to learn to learn to trust in Him (does this sound familiar?) In fact, in Matthew 14:22-23 Jesus sent the disciples off in a boat, so he could dismiss the crowd, knowing that the storm was going to come. He was giving them another opportunity to learn the trusting lesson because it would seem they hadn’t got it yet! That sounds so familiar to me and is a lesson I am constantly learning!

Jesus then comes to them on the water as the storm gets up and His presence is the answer they need in the storm they are in. Immediately the storm stops, but that wasn’t the main point, His presence with them was the main point! This is also true for us, as being in His presence is how we get through the storms in our own lives. Our hope is found in Jesus!

Jesus is referred to as an anchor in the bible, he holds us secure when we feel tossed and turned and buffeted by the storms that blow up in our lives. When we spend time in His presence the storms of life are doable because we have Jesus with us in our boat! He gives us strength when we can’t face any more and perseverance to see the problems through until a solution comes.

Heb 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

Anyway, back to the picture of the chain. Now this chain that I saw was huge, rusty, covered in silt and had an anchor at the end of it. The links were so big and heavy that no human could possibly pull the anchor up with human strength. I felt God say that there were people who had dropped their anchor in things that weren’t of Jesus and they felt pulled down, weighed down with the impossibility of pulling the anchor up to get out of their circumstances. The chains were representative of many things, such as addiction, love of money, friendships groups that weren’t helpful, job situations etc. and that people literally couldn’t pull the anchor up to move on.

If any of those things I listed are speaking to you and you feel that’s where you are in life at the moment then take heart because God knows and He wants to come alongside you and help you pull up the anchor that is holding you down and set you free! You cannot do it on your own, it’s too heavy and it’s been down there too long. God doesn’t want you to be alone in this He wants to come and shoulder the burden on your behalf. He has something so much better for you and He wants you to know there is hope today in Jesus and He is the only anchor for your soul that will never let you down.

I had this scripture too and would love you to come to know this as your truth today.

Matt 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

If you prefer worship music to take on truth then I hope you enjoy this song that is based on the above scripture by Will Reagan-Take a Moment. May it mightily bless you as the truth of how good our God is sinks in.