There’s another beautiful image later in Hebrews 6:19 which states, “We have an anchor in heaven.” What beautiful imagery. An anchor literally keeps us from going adrift. The book of Acts chapter 27 tells the account of  Apostle Paul as a prisoner, under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, who chartered a ship and captain to take the prisoners to Italy. There were many delays on the journey. The winds were against them and sailing was treacherous because winter was approaching. Paul warned them that to continue the voyage would “bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But instead of listening Julius took the advice of the captain and they ventured on hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. Verse 14 tells us that the ship was soon caught in hurricane force winds that shook the very timbers the ship was made of, so much so that the crew lashed ropes under the ship in an attempt to hold it together. 

They took such a violent battering from the storm that they began to throw the cargo overboard. The storm raged for days and the 276 men on board  gave up all hope of being saved. After two weeks of the ship being battered, Paul stood before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me  and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

In life too, we can find ourselves in despair–confronted with threatening, grave situations. Those on Paul’s battered ship put out four anchors to help survive the storm. Think of those four anchors as guidelines for living in our own troubled time.

The first anchor is God’s Word, the Bible,  a chart, or nautical map, for navigating the sea of life. The second anchor is faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that faith in Christ is an anchor of the soul that is sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:18-19). When we turn the helm over to Christ and let Him give us guidance and direction we can rest peacefully–knowing that He will see us through the dark night. The third powerful anchor is prayer. God wants us to abide in Him through our prayer life. Praying and listening to the answers God gives us can help us better understand our purpose in life and the daily directions we should follow. Finally, there is the anchor of providence. Sometimes God allows the winds to blow so we realize our need of Him.