Sonrise Magazine

Artwork by Ann Jackson

“Christ Himself anchors the hope of each soul who trusts Him..He draws us with the cord of love.  His winching cord is His lovingkindness.”

by Tom Giesecke

See yourself in a sailing vessel at sea.  The previously calm water rapidly morphs into mountainous waves that threaten to swamp and capsize your vessel.  The wind wails and gusts, propelling sheets of blinding rain across your deck. Your sail is in tatters.  Your boat rocks, pitches and yaws on the storm-tossed seas. You are apparently at the mercy of the elements gone mad.

“The Storm” watercolor by Amy J Heath

The storm goes on for many days. You and the other passengers and crew of the ship gradually abandon hope. You are at the point of despair. That is, all but one.  There is a man on board who stands up in your midst. He raises his voice above the shrieks of the storm and says: “And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship” (Acts 27:22).

How does this man have such security in the midst of the storm?  What gives him such authority when he too is a helpless passenger on this beleaguered boat?

This man no longer had his anchor on board the ship. He had given up his anchor to the One who is LORD and owns the far shore to which they were all bound.  He knew that this One was strong and dependable. He knew this One would hold his anchor securely and not let go. He knew that this One was even drawing them to this shore through the stupendous storm. How did he know this?

The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

The man had met the LORD back on the land, when he was on a journey to persecute people who had given their lives’ anchors to the safe-keeping of this Lord Jesus. Jesus appeared to him in a blinding light, and the man named Saul fell to the ground with his companions.  For three days Saul was blind, but it was then that Saul yielded his life anchor to his new Lord Jesus. The Lord even gave him a new name, Paul.

The Lord Jesus had led Paul through many trails of triumphs and trials to this time. Always the Lord’s cord of His lovingkindness had been tightly tethering Paul and drawing him closer, upward and higher.  Paul had learned that no matter what happened to him, nothing could break that cord. He wrote:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38).

Paul’s anchor was hope.  This hope was not wishful thinking, wispy like a thread that would break with a whipping wind.  This hope was “confident expectation based on solid certainty.” (Jack Hayford. Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1826.)  This hope is the anchor chain forged out of love, which is stronger than the strongest man-made titanium steel. This hope enters every believer who receives it.  Indeed, this hope is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).

Christ Himself is our hope.  Each of us must hand Him the anchor of his or her life out of the boat.   When we welcome Him, He secures our anchors, the far ends of our lives. He anchors our expectations on the solid certainty of Himself, our risen Savior and Lord.  He draws or winches each of us in who have done so. 

However, Christ winches from the opposite direction of the world.  The world winches with its worldly hopes from itself to those who hope in the world to keep them chained to the world system.

Christ Himself anchors the hope of each soul who trusts Him. He winches us in from Himself to Himself in Heaven.  He secures the anchor of each soul who trusts Him and draws that soul in to Heaven. He draws us with the cord of love.  His winching cord is His lovingkindness. 

Christ’s winching power is greater than all.  Nothing can stop it.  Nothing can separate the cord of the Lord. Nothing can separate us from His love. We are His sheep, and He will not let us go. Jesus said:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

Now let’s return to the saga of the Apostle Paul and the storm-tossed ship at sea. Doctor Luke documented the rest of the story.  In the midst of the storm, Paul stood up and encouraged the sailors and soldiers on board the vessel. It was disabled because they had thrown “the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands” (Acts 27:19b). Paul repeated the report of the Lord brought to him by an angel that very night, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you’ (Acts 17:24).

Paul told them to keep up their courage and prophesied that they would run aground on an island. 

About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, the sailors surmised they were approaching land.  As they sounded the depths of the sea, they found it to be decreasing. They were right.  To avoid crashing on rocks, the sailors cast their anchors out and prayed for daylight.

 Just before dawn, Paul encouraged them to eat.  He publicly thanked God and broke the bread and began to eat. All 276 of them on board ate.  Then they lightened the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.  When daylight came, they saw a bay with a beach. In order to get as close to shore as possible, they cast off their anchors into the sea. The ship struck a reef and ran aground.  Its stern was broken up by the violent waves of the storm.  Some people swam ashore. Others grabbed hold of planks or other floating objects from the ship. 

                “And thus it happened that they all were brought safely to land.” (Acts 27:44b).

To get safely to our heavenly land, each of us must cast his or her anchor out of the boat of this world.

If you cast it to Christ, He will catch hold of it and draw you in and bring you safely to His heavenly country.  The cord of the Lord is love. Nothing can separate you from His love.  No one can snatch you out of Christ’s hand.

Inline art: anchor by Jeanie Walls, ship at sea by Amy J. Heath