My Anchor

I have spent a great time writing about my word of the year in my blog which is the word “Freedom.”  My mom also has a word of the year, and her word of the year is Anchor.  This has then inspired me to write this blog post and poem for her.  

The definition of an anchor when looking at a verb is “secure firmly in position.”  Obviously when there is an anchor on a boat, the anchor’s job is to secure the boat firmly in position.  How exactly can this be a word of the year then?  Unless of course you are fishermen and you need to remember to get your anchor, why would this word be a spiritual guide? There needs to be a look at an anchor as a symbol in our lives for what holds us in position or in place.  However, I do think that there are many times that people, myself included, pick something else as our anchor besides the Lord, then we will not always stay firmly in the position that we want.

It can be easy to find other things as our anchors in this world.  This can be our jobs and how stable and safe we feel in our positions.  This may be why there is an increase in workaholism growing in the United States and in many other parts of the world.  There are also times that we may look at relationships as a safety net or an anchor.  This is also a wonderful and beautiful thing.  However, relationships can be a shaky thing at times, and they are not always the best anchor.  There also can be anchors in our talents.  Depending on the things that we are good at, we may start to depend on those same talents to give us our purpose or our awards.  

I may have told a bit of this story in the past, but at one time my anchor was nowhere near Jesus.  Not that I didn’t love Jesus at this time, but I was not as dependent on him as I should have been.  Jesus was certainly not where I found my identity.  In high school and in the first few years of college, it was all about being a good student.  I was bound and determined in high school to get straight As and have a 4.0 grade point average. I don’t know why I felt that this was supposed to define me.  I suppose I felt that if I had the best grades, then I would be seen as incredibly smart, responsible, and hard working.  

Then when I was in college, I was struggling to keep all straight As.  I still got good grades.  (I’m going to give myself some credit there.  I did work really, really hard in college).  But they weren’t all As.  I really started to doubt who I was. If I wasn’t the top student, then who was I?  If I wasn’t seen as the smart girl in the room, then who was I?  I was definitely struggling through an identity crisis.  The reason for this all bottled down to what I was seeing as my anchor.  Was I seeing my grades and ultimately my identity as a smart student as my anchor instead of the Lord?  During this phase of my life, yes, I absolutely was.  And all that left me was feeling as though I had to measure up to something so flawless, not very secure, and not even that important in the long run.   This left me very broken and feeling incredibly disappointed in myself.  

However, I did start to change my thoughts and the way I looked at my life in college.  I became a part of the Navigators student ministry when I was in college, and I also joined a Bible study as well as gained a mentor. Through these experiences in the Navigators student ministry, I started to notice that looking at grades as my anchor was actually quite harmful for me.  When I was struggling in a class, I then started to doubt who I was and what my purpose for the world was.  How awful is that! I was so dependent on something so unstable.   The Navigators reminded me that when I had accepted Jesus as a small child, I was supposed to make him the anchor of my life.  He was supposed to be the one thing that I needed to keep me stable.  

God and the hope that he brings is also mentioned in the Bible.  Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”  The hope that we have in Christ is going to make us feel firm and secure.  God can help us feel secure even when the world seems to be going every which way or is upside down.  While a business could go under and one could lose their job, God will always be present and available. While a relationship could end, God is never ending and always willing to keep the relationship.  While we could all eventually lose our talents or find we aren’t as good as we initially thought, being a child of God is the only validation and identity that we need to survive.  

Ultimately an anchor can save multiple lives.  Because an anchor can keep a boat steady, this can help it to not go under if there is heavy winds or the waters are high.  Our own personal anchor that we have in Christ is also what helps keep us steady and then what ultimately saves us from the heavy storms that hit our world.  

My Anchor:

An anchor to keep me still and quiet
An anchor to hold me steady
An anchor to place me in where I need to
An anchor to make me feel safe

Before I had you as an anchor
I often felt lost
I often felt alone
I often felt afraid

With you as an anchor
I now feel secure
I now feel safe
I now feel placed

An anchor to be my rock
An anchor to keep me calm
An anchor to give me identity
An anchor to be my constant

I need an anchor in the midst of a storm
I need an anchor when the waters are high
I need an anchor in the dark nights
I need an anchor even when the weather is sunny

I don’t need my talents
I don’t need my titles
I don’t need my relationships
I only need you as my anchor

An anchor to give me joy
An anchor to bring me hope
An anchor to keep my strength
An anchor to save me, that can ultimately save me