Are You Attatched?

Luke 8:23
But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

Not quite sure of where you are headed?  Storms raging all around you and you are griped by fear?  Thought maybe you were sailing along just fine only to discover you are alone?  Often we are plagued by so many uncharted waters, we can not make heads or tail of any of the things we encounter.  Questioning why we chose the way we did and doubting God in the process.  How do we get so turned around?  Why do we not choose to “anchor” ourselves in Jesus, allowing Him to “steer” us in the right direction, so that we may enjoy smooth sailing”?  Let me paint a picture for you:

We are born.  We survive childhood, hopefully intact, and begin to have a sense about the world.  From the time we are little, we know we are seeking something greater than just what is in front of us.  Sometimes we grab the anchor at an early age and hold steadfast to the things of God.  Others do not find anchor until years later.  Now the true question to ask at this point, concerning the anchor:  Are you anchored to Jesus or is He anchored to you?  I am not sure I know how to correctly answer this, but let me give it a shot!  If you attach yourself to the anchor, you are then destined to go where it goes.  Picking up and moving at the will of the anchor.  If you attach the anchor to your life, then you are still in control and get to make all the choices without even thinking.  Now of course when we apply this to Godly thinking we have to take into consideration we have a free will, however lets just look at the big picture, not the tiny details!

So now, which anchoring would you choose?  A life where you are led by God or one where you decide how you are going to live, pulling God along with you? Tough thing to actually think about, huh? It was a wake up call to me just as I am writing this.  Our free will actually allows us to choose how to be anchored, I certainly am choosing to by anchored to Jesus!  By choosing to be anchored to Jesus, we can then allow Him to take the wheel and steer us into the right direction for our lives.  When we do our own steering (thinking) that is when we end up in so much trouble!  God knows the direction we need to go and will lead us into His charted waters for our own safety.  When we are left alone in the water, not following the map (ie Bible) we certainly will end up in deeper waters where the dangerous stuff lurks.

If we are wise in our choice (to be anchored not anchoring) then surely the goodness and favor of the Lord will be upon us and we will suffer less shipwrecks and hardships.  How many times do we find ourselves in a storm all panicked out only to realize it was our choices which led us down that path?  During my marriage, I was not anchored to God, I most definitely just dragged Him along.  And then as the storm raged, I bit my nails, cried out in anger and pointed fingers at God for where I ended up.  Boy was I in for a rude awakening when I made the realization I had not followed God at all to get where I was, I had been doing my own  “steering” into the wrong direction.  I had no one to blame but me!  I chose not use Godly wisdom in choosing the direction I wanted to go.  I thought my ship was ready to sail and nobody was stopping me.

So how do we turn the situation around so that we become calm in the storms?  Let go of the anchor, surrender your life to Jesus and let Him grab a hold of you, anchor you into Him, restore your ship, take the wheel and sail into a life of victory!  Sweet is sailing when the waters are calmed by the One who calms the raging seas!  How awesome is the feeling as you are birthed into the favor and blessings of God.  I love the breeze that comes when you are right with God.  The feeling of things being under control (peace).  The unexplainable things you pass on the way.  The joys which come from smooth sailing.  I never want to go back to anchoring God to my life, I want Him to have full control over my life so I may walk in peace 24/7.  No more freaking out.  No more cries of desperation for even in the trials which come, I am no longer uncertain of where I am headed.

So choose today to let go, surrender and let God take you where He wants you to go.  You may not understand some of the changes of direction at first, but you can be certain He is taking you to charted waters and He wants to bless you abundantly.  Trust me, I know.  Once I learned to let go, I have not stopped receiving blessings.  My life is being restored and God is just placing things into my life.  For instance, having someone paying for the restoration of my teeth.  I am confident God has a house already in the works for me.  He has placed another career opportunity to fill in some of the gaps with a Godly company.  He surrounds me with good friends who have wisdom concerning the things of God.  I could go on, however my simple point is:  Let Go,let God and sail in freedom and without fear for God is calming the waters, steering the wheel and taking your ship exactly where He has you destined to be.