You Are My Anchor

Peace Be Still...

"He is my firm foundation. My anchor won't be moved. Storms may collide but my soul is on fire with His Word..."

Have you ever noticed that whenever you are faced with a new threat, the first thing people will tell you is, "Don't move"? Kind of like that moment when you are suddenly staring down a protective mother bear that has the capacity to tear you to sheds if you make a move that she doesn't like. We think that not moving will prevent the harm of attack, but it actually shows our stance when faced with something. The enemy is intimidated when we don't cower, but STAND. He doesn't know what to do with our resolution to rest in peace regardless of what's facing us.

So when you hear, "Don't move", it's almost always from those people with all the anecdotes and tales of what they've faced before, who are taking this chance to pass along what worked for them in a situation that you may be facing for the first time.

I strongly believe that God never takes us through something without intention for us to get something out of it. A close mentor of mine said once, "We are either called to be a lesson or to learn a lesson." So, when our faith is tested, we may not fully understand the reason, but we know there is one, because it's not in God's character to be careless with our hearts.

One such thing that we may come out of a storm with is wisdom. Wisdom is beneficial, because it has a way of protecting legacy, which is a series of decisions that ensure the safety and continuity of the next generation. Survival. Someone once told me that there are different kinds of wisdom. One would be "prophetic wisdom" which I like to think of as when God decides to pour into you and equip you with what you need to make a wise decision(after all, He already knows what works and He wants you to be just as successful), and the other type of wisdom only comes from experience.

Wisdom from experience is just as it sounds - you go through struggles and trials, and you come out of those situations with understanding and knowledge that not just anyone could know because they haven't been where you are...

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)

Why would God say "Ask" if we are automatically given? I mean, isn't that how King Solomon got his abundance in wisdom. This shows me that it is possible to face a situation unprepared. It is possible to be caught off guard and not know what to do, not because you didn't do your due diligence, but because it is a part of God's plan for us to need Him.

“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:7‬ ‭NKJV)‬‬

When you are wise, you have peace. Wisdom is that person or thought in your mind or memory that says, "Don't move" when the enemy is raging against you. You know to trust it because it will ring true with your faith. Because faith is the protector of our unstable hearts, it can be misguided, waver, or dwindle, but its something about having wisdom that stabilizes our foundation. Sometimes it’s wise to just be responsible for where we place our faith and let God handle the rest. It's not wise to have more faith in our storm than we do in our God. And, yet, sometimes we do, but God has already accounted for our wavering faith or our moments of doubt or, even, our misguided emotions. He already has already anticipated our healing and God already knows that we will need to hear ”Peace be still” to a storm that is beyond us.

”But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:38-40‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

I am learning to anchor myself in God and not in my storm, because my storm will deplete my energy simply because it cannot ground me like God can.

Some see “Don’t move” differently, but what if, NOT MOVING is standing firm on the Word of God in the midst of a storm? I am coming to understand that you cannot have peace without knowing who God is.

I am in a storm. I acknowledge that and am aware of its raging force. So, all of what I am writing is as much for me as it is to encourage you.

Wisdom distances you from the bad intentions of your storms, because the truth is God covers you.

When we hear that "Don't move", it is a gift of forethought, an action of peace, and a voice of wise counsel. When I found out my diagnosis of ovarian cancer, everything in me was shaken and chaotic. I had allowed what was happening around me to effect what was in me. I remember the text message that I sent my friend...

"I just got home. So I have a tumor the size of a cantaloupe in my stomach that has to be surgically removed. But because it's not considered an emergency surgery, I have to wait until June to get rid of it...

...I'm scared because they can't do anything about the pain or the shortness of breath. I'm stuck with this for a whole nother month. They prescribed me some pain meds, but that is all they would do."

In that moment as I sat in my bathroom with the lights off and struggled to keep a firm grasp on my faith, my friend responded with -

"Do me a favor! Ground yourself. Know that it's okay not to be strong right now. This is a lot! Allow yourself to cry. Say out loud God I'm scared. It's okay to come undone. Even in this He still has you. He's not going to let you go even if you are afraid He might...

...Also, for anxiety. Do the same thing, ground yourself. Take notice of things that are around you. Walls, windows, colors. While inhaling deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. Squeeze your fist together and then release while feeling the tension fade."

I know what you are thinking. Wow! What great friends I have. This is true. God has always placed the right people around me whether I realize it or not. I have always had someone who knew the right things to say or do in terms of protecting me. But my friend taught me something that night when hell was breaking loose for me. She showed me that sometimes grounding myself looks a whole lot like letting go. I was losing control because I was trying to keep control, but when faced with a storm, the last thing you'd want to do is hold onto yourself. If you hold on just yourself, then you are letting go of the one thing that can keep you anchored -God.

I truly believe that is what Jesus was trying to demonstrate to the disciples that were in the boat with him when that storm hit. It's so puzzling to figure out why Jesus chose to sleep instead of panic and rush to throw things over board. Their boat was rocking, but He had peace. Peace is our anchor. Peace is our stillness. It is what reminds us that while this storm is bigger than us, it is not bigger than God. This is what makes us prepared for the storm. Our actions aren't frantic or taking on any of the other characteristics of the storm, because when we listen to that "Don't move" we stand firm as the victor and not the victim.

As a kid, my daddy used to joke about the roaring thunder and crackling lightening that would split the sky with electricity. He used to say that it was just the angels going bowling. I used to think this was the silliest thing, but I didn't realize that by reducing the storm to something as trivial as a regular Monday night of fun in a bowling alley, I didn't have fear pushing me off balance. I could stand in confidence, because it stopped making sense to lose sight of who I am for a temporary and commonplace occurrence. I could continue with my original path to my purpose as God intended, because my storm shifted to the background of my perspective. It no longer could distract me. Truth was no longer in fear, so what was the point of the spirit of fear being present? It had no place. It had no role. It was like a boat on land. It couldn't be rowed without water. Useless. Powerless.

While I have been growing up and becoming a woman of God, "Don't Move" has become DON'T ALLOW people or circumstances to rename you outside of what God has called you. God was my name-giver, not man, not my storms. It has become God guiding me through every valley of death that I have faced, not because I am in a state of denial or that I refuse to acknowledge the existence of my storms, but because I acknowledge the One who created it in the first place.

Someone once said,

"Peace doesn't mean the absence of storms. It just solidifies contentment in the sunshine to come."

God has never lost a battle. So, why would He start with this storm? Why would He gain victory for someone else and not for you? He is who He is. Who He is doesn't make room for Him to fail or lie to us. His character never changes or wavers or shifts from the influence of external forces, so why are we?

During the storm, Jesus slept in the stern, because that was the most vulnerable part of the boat. The part that was outside of our reach, above us, too much for us to handle alone. If that was damaged, then it would take down the whole boat. If Jesus wasn't where He was, then we’d have more to worry about than taking on water. The fact that he brought a pillow shows that he intended to stay there long enough to get comfortable. We find our grounding in letting God handle the things that are beyond our abilities. He does it willingly. The wisdom in this is having the good judgement to know when to relinquish. Worry is the product of trying to fix something that you were never meant to fix on your own.

It's a little amusing to see the contrast between what Jesus was doing and what the disciples were doing on deck. The reason why it made more sense for them to throw their precious cargo overboard, which they probably needed if it was on-board, is because they were only relying on their own understanding. They could only see the storm. When we surrender to the storm instead of the God of the storm, we make bad decisions like devaluing what's on our boat, because we've allowed ourselves to believe that what we have is not good enough. Ironically, the truth is that we will always need God to complete us and make us whole, because it is in our weaknesses, and lack of sight, that God's strength is made perfect. It is wise to lean on God.

Sometimes, we have a lot of faith, but are short-sighted of who's on our boat. We forget just how present God really is. He may seem asleep and quiet, but He is still standing between us and what can hurt us. Just having faith might not be enough if you're choosing to panic in your process at the expense of your outcome. Don’t let things overwhelm you, because God’s already made plans for you not to come out of this empty-handed.

We know the characteristics of the storm, studied what damage it could do, and how powerful it can be. The potential of danger is as far as our own knowledge takes us, but we can't forget that we have an anchor on board that isn’t going anywhere. Truth is, we are stable, but we get too focused on what the storm is doing to see what God is doing through us. God is still moving! His Word remains active even when we fail to.

"Don't move" is a command to me. It implies that if I move, then I am in danger of losing myself. Even today, as I face the storms of grief and sadness and loss and other stressful storms in my life, I have to remind myself that I am not a victim of my storm. I am not at the mercy of what attacks me. I let God move for me. In the Word of God, it declares that "...no weapons formed against me shall prosper..."(Isaiah 54:17)

This is my guarantee and His promise. I may have weapons form against me at some point in my life, but I won't have to sustain the damage that they intend to cause. There is no loss with God. While storms are necessary to build character and endurance, I am not a victim of my circumstance. I will not lose my identity in the midst of a battle. I will not become a turncoat to God’s winning army.

In case you didn't understand my analogy, storms are battles. So, it is wise that we listen to that "Don't move" we have been given and stand firm like an anchor enduring a rough storm out at sea. I may have to stand resolute in my peace as a leader, but this doesn’t mean that I can’t cry or acknowledge the pain that I feel right where I’m at now. I can still scream at the wild waves and get frustrated with it seeming like there is more water inside my boat than outside.

Jesus is always the example. What would Jesus do. He would stand as an Anchor against the storm. He would have authority, not just in His voice, but in His posture. He shows us that we can be just as resolute of an anchor as he is. Some people find it easier to be an anchor for someone else while ignoring their own need for an anchor. Trying to be strong for somebody else while we are weak ourselves is like building a sandcastle too close to the water. This reminds me of what the flight attendants say before take-off. In case of an emergency always put the oxygen mask on yourself first before trying to help someone else put theirs on. It's not selfish to help yourself first, because you wouldn't be able to help anyone else if you didn't take care of YOU. I am learning to anchor myself in Christ so I can then help others do the same.

Imagine if you were trying to be strong and someone that others can lean on, but you are getting spiritually beat up by your own storms because you haven't taken the time to secure yourself. Whenever I am sitting on the ground or floor, and I reach out my hand for someone to help me up, I expect the person helping me up to be able to handle all my weight. Someone who hasn’t braced themselves or secured their place can't be the one to help me, because then we both will be on the ground, struggling with the same problem.

The wisdom that God has given you through your experiences is the forethought to your victory. Your decisions are God-guided. All you have to do is walk by faith, and let God be your sight. It is wise to trust Him. It is wise to know He is our Anchor.

I hope this has blessed you as much as I loved writing it!

Love you muchly!

Jamie,