The rhythm of life seems to get faster and faster every single day. No matter what we accomplish today, there’s another list of to-dos waiting for us tomorrow. No matter how far ahead we plan, there is always a something that is yet undone. We just can’t seem to get far enough ahead in life. Have you ever felt this way? Ever felt as if you couldn’t’ keep up with the rat race pace around you? Ever feel like a tree that is growing in a desert place that is starving for nutrients? Ever feel like you’re just drying up?

If I’m being honest, I’ll tell you that these days are getting harder and harder to keep up. Life continues to pick up pace and some days I’m just not sure how I’m going to get it all done. I’m tempted to stay up a little later or wake up a little earlier to sink myself into the busyness of life. I’ve all too often tabled my prayer and study time for the sake of another important task. But when I do this, I’m left with an even greater feeling that something is left undone. I’m left worse off than before. So what’s a person to do?

I can’t tell you what will work for you, but I can tell you what has worked for me and that’s finding a new place to drop my anchor. I know this sounds a little weird but stick with me for a few more sentences.

Imagine life as an ocean for a moment. And your particular part of that life is like a small boat trying to navigate the waters of life. Now when you’re out in the middle of the water and things are going well, it’s peaceful and serene. But that’s not how life always is. All too often the waters of life are tormented by storms. Job loss. Sickness. Death. Failed test. New career. New school. Going off to college. Kids aren’t listening. Depression. Eviction. Bankruptcy. These are just a few of the storms we face in life and there are more, many more.

Now that little boat in which you’re riding is easily tossed around. But what happens when that boat is anchored to the bottom of the ocean? What happens when we drop our anchor and become held firm to the immovable bottom of the ocean? It doesn’t mean the storm stops. Not by any means. But it does mean that our boat won’t drift off course. It means that we’ll be able to hold grown a little even when the waters try to pull us in the wrong direction.

Now in our lives, we often fail to drop anchor when things are going all haywire. We hold onto the anchor thinking that the weight of it will at least keep us in the boat, but that’s just not true. An anchor in the boat won’t do us any good. We need to drop the anchor all the way to the bottom of the water. We need to make sure the anchor is embedded into something solid and immovable.

In our lives, that something immovable is Jesus. Anchoring in anything else is like letting the anchor hang halfway below the surface of the water and never hit the floor. We still drift. We still are taken off course. We are still in danger. But when the anchor falls to the bottom the boat, while tossed back and forth a bit, won’t lose its place. In the same way, when we are anchored to the truth of Jesus in our lives we’ll still be tossed around a bit but we won’t lose course. Everything else will still allow us to drift. It’s the truth of Jesus alone that will keep us firm and steadfast even in the storms of life.

So know this and cling to it with everything you have – Jesus is the truth that nothing can change. Jesus is the only way to a life of real peace (not a life of good times but peace even in the bad ones). Jesus is the source of a different kind of life, something the bible calls a life that is real and full. Jesus is the only one who can anchor us firm. And when we’re anchored to this kind of truth even when life tries to dry us up we’ll find rest and nourishment for our soul. So use this verse as a constant reminder for you of the power of Jesus to anchor you.

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.
Hebrews 6:19-20