I recently wrote an article about staying ANCHORED in HOPE – the God kind of hope….not man’s wishy washy – maybe it will or maybe it won’t-but the Hope that says, my God is not a man that He should lie! Hope that, according to the word means:

Cord, hope, expectation, things hoped for – outcome, to have possession or possess, ANCHOR, safeguard, firm – that which can be relied on, certain true, steadfast, stable, securely, to wait, expect and tarry, hope in the WORD, expectation of good! (expect good things!) joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation, the author of hope, or HE who is its foundation, the thing hoped for, REFUGE, shelter, (from storm or danger), trust, confidence, act of confiding, object of confidence, STATE of CONFIDENCE, security, to hope, in a religious sense, to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence, hopefully to trust in, to have, possess or lay hold of.

Today, I read a post from my friend Tammy Schwendeman and she made the following statement: “ and she made the following statement: “IF YOU HAVE PICKED UP YOUR ANCHOR because of frustration of its not working God!! – then I encourage you to give the anchor back and let go again. Give the anchor back to the one who who always walks with you to overcome.”

I wish I could insert emojis here because there would be a line of FIRE! She described many of us and what we have done a bunch! When things are too heavy and it’s hard to move forward, we have picked up our anchor! Jesus, help us! What a revelation! We can’t carry our own anchor anymore than we can carry our own problems. When we pick up our anchor, we have pulled our anchor out of the word, out of HOPE and are trying to do things within ourselves and we all know how that works….it doesn’t! It’s cumbersome, awkward, we can’t get a good grip, we can’t move fast nor take normal steps. Carrying our own anchor hurts our backs, our muscles and wears us out! No one, in their right mind, would even try to carry a large, heavy anchor that is meant to anchor a ship, so why do we ever try?

If this is you today, do as my friend said – give the anchor back to the one who makes you overcome. This means surrendering your will, your ideas of how things will work out, your timetable, your frustration and fears. Surrender all of it and pick up instead, His grace, His peace and the God kind of HOPE! Throw your anchor into the HOPE of God!

I will end this with a great scripture to throw your anchor into full on – Romans 5:1-5 (NAS) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Let’s read verses 3-5 in The Passion Translation – Let’s read verses 3-5 in The Passion Translation – “Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, (HOPE) knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. 4 And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. 5 And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” (HOPE my emphasis)

The Lord is continuing to say to us ANCHOR YOURSELF IN HOPE! So, pray with me:

Father, we come before You today and we first repent for picking up our anchor! We repent for trying to do things our way because of frustration and impatience! Lord, we repent for not fully trusting YOU! Thank You that according to 1 John 1:9 You hear, forgive and cleanse us right now. Jesus, right now, we take our anchor and we throw it full on into HOPE – Your hope – the God kind, which is backed by Your powerful and precious Word. We release to you the timing of our situations and we thank You right now, that because You are not a man that You should lie – we completely and totally trust You for a good outcome. We are expecting good things. We love You and honor You and we give you praise for this way of escape. We take a posture of adoration and know that true worship trusts the anchor in the middle of the storm. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN!

(first article on Hope found here: https://therockpkb.com/the-god-kind-of-hope/ )