Anchored

My hands find they aren’t sure what to type. Tragedy has struck both near and far. In the month since I last posted, life has changed drastically for people I know and love and for those I will never meet. The 45 year old mother of 6 with pancreatic cancer that homeschooled alongside friends of mine has gone to be with Jesus. Someone I dearly love has altered their life in irreversible ways due to sin. In the last few weeks, our country has endured mass killings due to hate, and our world reels again this morning from yet another terrorist mass killing in Nice. Certainty for tomorrow is only found in one place, friends; there is no surety apart from the Savior.

Jesus said,

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus knew life on earth would continue to be full of pain, sickness, calamity, and tragedy. That is the reality of a fallen world. Jesus told his disciples, and consequently us, to anchor ourselves in him when the waves and storms of life began to beat.While we may try to “better things” via technological advances and better forms of healthcare, we can never stave off the end reality: life on earth will end for all of us one day.  Perhaps many are more aware of that reality due to the recent tragedies. But will reality cause us to look where we should?
I know for me personally, this last month has kept me on my knees. There were days when I wept til I felt dry. My soul hungered and thirsted for God in a land where there was no water. He sustained me by His Word. God’s love for me was my anchor.  I knew that above all, God was at work, reigning on his throne and knowing every tear that I shed. He knows the big and the little.
But what about those without Christ? How do they handle the pain, sickness, calamity, and tragedy of this life? What hope do they have? What is their anchor?
Oh, how I pray, dear one, that your reality is not that of hopelessness today. I pray that you know your God, and that you have an anchor for this life in Jesus, who loves you and gave his life for you.  If you have, these words are for you!

"So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:18-20