Take a deep breath.
The whole world is on pause with the pandemic of COVID-19. We have slowed to a new routine of working from home or not working at all, isolating from others and staying home, or maybe you have not slowed at all and are working your feet off as a healthcare worker on the front-lines. Regardless, you might be wondering what this world is coming to? It is hard to see an end to all of this because it is so big! But I wonder though, if this pause is a gift to us leading up to a very important weekend.The past month has been quite the storm.
To illustrate, imagine yourself on a boat, the storm surge of wind and waves has you holding your breath, bracing yourself, waiting and praying for the end of the chaos. Relief comes when you realize that you are in the eye of the hurricane, where everything around you is peaceful, serene and hard to trust that somehow you made it through. Does this feel like your past month? It definitely has been this way for me.
We are in a break in the storm and I feel it is time for me to re-evaluate where my priorities lie. This week I have taken a look at every bit of my busy schedule that has been stripped away and I have sorted through the wreckage to discern what is really important in my life.
I start with thinking about what really lasts in a storm. Without a good anchor, the things that we carry around with us and prioritize (the cargo) can fall overboard. But with a good anchor we will never lose the entire ship. If the boat is our lives, my life, have I placed my hope in the anchor?
If Jesus is the anchor for us, let us not forget the work that He did for us on the cross.
You see, the storm brings questions that can really create anxiety and fear. We could look at the storm and get scared. We can create scenarios in our mind that can’t be controlled and problems that can’t be solved… or, we can trust in the one who is an anchor for this storm.
Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
You see, we have hope in Jesus just like an anchor for our soul, firm and secure. When the world is in chaos, when there is a lot in our world that doesn’t make sense, when even our own thoughts deceive us, Jesus is an anchor for our soul. If we trust in that anchor, we may feel the waves lapping against us but we need not fear or be worried. That anchor has us firm and secure, grounded in what really matters.
If Jesus is the anchor for us, let us not forget the work that He did for us on the cross. It is this weekend (Easter Weekend) that Jesus willingly allowed His accusers to lead Him to His death, on a Roman cross, to pay for the wrong-doing that we could not pay for ourselves. He did this to re-unite us with the Almighty God. And on the third day, He rose Himself from the grave. No one has ever risen themselves from the dead before, in fact no one could ever do this unless they are God Himself. Jesus who is the Son of God was God in flesh.
Or will you put your hope and trust in the anchor, Jesus Christ… in whom no hurricane, no storm will ever make drift. He is our hope, firm and secure.
So in this time of settling into the eye of the storm, this pause, this stillness of a week leading up to Easter… consider your mortal life and the reality of life eternal.
Do the things we pursue save us?
Can we really save ourselves
Is it possible to get ourselves out of this storm?
No.
This is a storm that will show what will last and what will not. The only thing that will last is the boat that is tied to that anchor. The only thing that can last any storm is salvation in Jesus Christ, in whom we can have eternal hope.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” –Acts 4:12
As the world takes a deep breath and waits to plunge into the new normal, take the time to pause. Take the time to reflect on what really matters and remember where our hope comes from.
Are the things you pursue worth the effort you give them?
Will they last?
Will they give you security?
Or will you put your hope and trust in the anchor, Jesus Christ… in whom no hurricane, no storm will ever make drift. He is our hope, firm and secure.
My charge to you this week is to put your trust in Jesus as we approach Easter.
Written by Pastor Wes