One of the truths of life is that everyone faces storms in their life. I have told my people where I have preached, you are either in the midst of a storm, just coming out of a storm, or about to enter a storm. I know that does not sound very encouraging does it.

I remember many years ago when I was a teenager, a friend and I were fishing on one of the local lakes near where I grew up and a storm began to come up. To keep the wind from driving our boat into the trees and stumps, we found an open area of water and dropped our anchor to hold us in place.

Webster defines an anchor as something that holds an object firmly, to secure firmly. As we go through life and we are ravaged by the storms we want and need an anchor to hold us securely. The truth is in the times of personal storms, we look for security.

There is a great story in the Bible, Acts 27 where Paul finds himself on a ship in the midst of a raging storm and in that story we see several things that one can call anchors in Paul’s life. Things that he held on to that gave him his security.

First, we see what I call the anchor of courage. In verse 22 he says “keep your courage.” The thing we must understand is that courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to go on in spite of your fear.

Someone has said that courage is the muscle of character that gives us strength to continue against overwhelming odds. We see this in the lives of men like David when he faced Goliath, Daniel when cast into the lion’s den, Elijah on Mt. Carmel, Moses before the Pharaoh, and Joshua as he looks over the Jordan River at Jericho. The truth is it is impossible to face the storms of life without the anchor of courage.

The second anchor Paul had was the anchor of protection. He says in verse 23 “last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me….” I remember several years ago reading an article in the Shreveport Times by a young man named David Westerfield that gives us this great picture in story form.

He wrote that one night while a severe storm was raging he awoke. When he opened his eyes there was his five-year-old son standing there by his bed with his pillow under one arm and Winnie the Pooh under the other arm. He said he pulled back the covers for his son and Pooh to get in bed with him and the three rode out the storm together. I love that story because it reminds me of the protection I have by my loving Heavenly Father.

The third anchor Paul tells us of is the anchor of faith. He says in verse 25 “I believe God.” This means the God that I put my trust in. I will admit that often times when one is in the midst of the storm, it is difficult to put your trust in God.

It is very easy to feel like God has abandoned you, but my friend take heart, God cares for you and knows exactly where you are. There is nothing any more comforting and secure than to know God will take care of you.

In the miniseries called Wallenberg, a story about a Swedish diplomat that was executed by the Nazis for helping save many Jews during World War II, there is a scene where an old Rabbi is talking to a young boy. The boy says “Rabbi you know the German soldiers drowned our people in the Danube River and you saw them shoot children in the back. I don’t see how you can believe in God.” The old Rabbi responded, “I don’t see how you can believe in man.”

So, when the storms of life start to rage – grab hold to the anchor of God – and hold on for the ride.