The Overwhelming Importance of Keeping One’s Faith Strong in Jesus, during Times of Storm!

22 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 34:19.        Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Come on down friends to the Lord’s sanctuary; it’s Sunday, the first one in the Lenten season, and hopefully the precipitations of snow and freezing rain won’t stop us from fellowshipping with each other, praising the Lord and giving Him much thanks for all the good things He’s done, is doing and has promised to do on our behalf. And all God’s children said a loud and grateful; ‘Thank You Lord!’ 

And today’s song of worship is one of strong faith, birthed in the painful sorrows of real life. The name of the song is ‘The Anchor Holds.’ And does it ever, when Jesus is the one who’s controlling it! The story behind the song goes something like this: It was 1992, and the writer of the song, Lawrence Chewning and his wife, were going through a stormy period of life. His father died, He was a burned-out pastor in a church that was having some problems, and then his wife had her third miscarriage.  One would indeed call that a stormy period.

So, to ease the pain, he took a six-month sabbatical from the church and spent most of his time just playing the piano and talking to God. And with the ever-mysterious movements of our God, it’s no surprise he ended up writing the song during that period of turbulence. Sometime later, while talking to singer Ray Boltz, he mentioned the rough times and the song the Lord had given him during it. Ray decided to record the song and remodelled it into what it is today and released it in 1995. So, there is indeed life after the storm, and the anchor does hold with Jesus operating it.

Now, let’s offer up our sweet sacrifices of praise in a soulful, scintillating reggae version of the song, as done by Jamaican gospel artist, Judith Gayle. Singing: ‘I have journeyed, Through the long, dark night Out on the open sea By faith alone, Sight unknown And yet His eyes, were watching me. The anchor holds, though the ship is battered. The anchor holds, though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. I’ve had visions, I’ve had dreams, I’ve even held them in my hand, But oh Lord, I never knew, They would slip right through, Oh my Jesus, Like they were only grains of sand.

The anchor holds, though the ship is battered. The anchor holds, though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Oh, I have been young, but I am older now, thank the Lord, And there has been beauty, that these eyes have seen, But it was in the night, through the storms of my life, Oh, that’s where God proved, His LOVE for me. The anchor holds, though my ship is battered. The anchor holds, though my sails are torn. And I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm.  I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Yes, the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Thank You Jesus! 

Oh my fellow believers, I know that many of us can attest to that fact: the anchor does hold when it’s in the hands of Jesus. The trouble though, is our faith strong enough to understand and accept it when the times get rough? For our sake, I certainly hope so, otherwise we’d be cast adrift in the storm and crash on some rocky shore, with no one to help us. And that’s what Jesus is all about; helping His people through the difficult times, but we must place our faith and trust in His nail scarred hands if we truly need help. 

And there are many scriptures that reinforce that truth, especially the beautiful Psalm 34, where Bruh David writes: ‘I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears…This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Ps. 34: Ps. 34: 4, 6, 8) And if you don’t believe Bruh David, then listen to Cousin Sol from Proverbs: ‘For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.’ (Prov. 24:16)

Then there’s this from the prophet Micah, as he talks about ‘A Light in the Midst of Darkness’: ‘Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.’ (Mic. 7:7-8) Wow! What faith the scripture talks of! That’s the kind of faith we need in these evil and ungodly times!

And there’s no better way to end than with these most encouraging and reassuring words of Bruh David from the end of Psalm 34. ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh (near) unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (crushed in spirit). Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate (condemned or held guilty). The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them are desolate (condemned).’ (Ps. 34:17-22) 

Now that’s the indisputable truth my people! The Lord has redeemed us through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and none of us are condemned! Instead, we are judged to be righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. Yes friends, when we’ve lost the vision of our dreams, they’ve slipped through our hands like grains of sand, and the storm is raging around us, the only safe place of shelter is in the LOVE of Jesus, for He will take control of our anchor and eventually bring us safely to land. That’s why He’s our Saviour and Redeemer. So, let’s be wise and put all our trust in Him today, so that when the storms rage and our ships are battered, we will know where to find a safe harbour. Much LOVE!

…only by faith…and not by sight…can one walk together with Jesus…  

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 August 2021 Psalm 34:19.

01 Aug 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 34:19.      Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 

One more Sunday is on deck friends! What a way they come around often and quickly! (smile) But that only means it’s time once again for corporate praise, worship and thanksgiving to Almighty God, our Creator and Provider. And there is definitely no problem in doing that. In fact, it ought to be an exciting and joyful time to which we gladly look forward. For what can be more energizing and uplifting than giving thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, considering all that He has done for us, is currently doing, and has promised to do until eternity? Absolutely nothing my faithful saints in Christ! 

So let’s get on with it nuh, opening as always with a song of praise. And today’s song has been one of my favourites ever since I first heard it a few years ago. It’s titled ‘The Anchor Holds.’ The song was originally written by a small-town pastor called Lawrence Chewning. According to Chewning, around 1992 his wife and him were having a rough time. He was a burned-out pastor, and then his wife had her third miscarriage. He took a sabbatical for six months, and just ended up playing the piano all the time, while talking to God. 

One day he found himself playing a song that sounded familiar, but he really didn’t know it. Then he began singing some words that the Lord put in his heart and the song was born. But that’s not the end of the story. Sometime later, he was talking to the singer Ray Boltz and told him about the rough times and the song the Lord had given him. Then one day, out of the blue, Ray called and said he wanted to record the song. Obviously Chewning said yes, but told Ray that he would have to shorten the song, because he felt it was too long. Ray remodelled the song to what it is today and released it in 1995. 

It seems he even had problems getting the record company to release the song because they didn’t like it. But he persisted because others who heard it liked it. And to show how God doesn’t leave His children in the lurch, Chewning says that at the time of the release of the song, he had become an out of work pastor, having resigned some time before, wondering how he was going to support his family. Obviously, he was going to get some financial rewards from the release of the song. Isn’t our God great? He certainly is! 

Now after hearing that touching and encouraging story, let’s sing the song in an up-tempo reggae riddim like the Jamaican gospel singer Judith Gayle. Remember the background vocal, the flourish of hands and the high stepping, with joy and gratitude emanating from our hearts, as our sincere voices are raised to heaven in sacrificial praise. Wow mih bredrin, let’s sing! 

‘I have journeyed, Through the long, dark night Out on the open sea By faith alone, Sight unknown And yet His eyes, were watching me. The anchor holds, though the ship is battered. The anchor holds, though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. I’ve had visions, I’ve had dreams, I’ve even held them in my hand, But I never knew, They would slip right through, Like they were only grains of sand. The anchor holds, though the ship is battered. The anchor holds, though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. 

Oh, I have been young, but I am older now, thank the Lord, And there has been beauty, that these eyes have seen, But it was in the night, through the storms of my life, Oh, that’s where God proved, His LOVE for me. The anchor holds, though my ship is battered. The anchor holds, though my sails are torn. And I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm.  I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Yes, the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Thank You Jesus! I have fallen on my knees, As I face the raging seas, But the anchor holds, In spite of the storm. Yes, the anchor holds, In spite of the storm.’ 

And is that ever the gospel truth my people! When Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, whatever storms we go through, be they literal or metaphorical, the anchor always holds because He is the Master of the storm! However, we need to believe that and put it into action when the storms of life come against us. Even in the raging seas, when our ship is battered and our sails are torn, the right thing for us to do is get down on our knees and cry out to Him for safety and succour. 

It is all based on the premise of hope in Christ Jesus which leads to an undying faith in Him. I like how the prophet Zechariah puts it as he speaks to his people, Israel about the coming of their future king, Jesus, the Messiah. He says: ‘Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope…’ (Zech. 9:12a) Yes friends, that’s what believers in Christ are, ‘prisoners of hope!’ And what’s hope? Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) describes ‘Hope as a revolution, a powerful presence that breaks through from the future and transforms today.’ Oh my people, that is exactly what hope in Christ does for us; gives us an encouraging glimpse of a wonderful future with Him! 

And we are just going to quote a few verses of scripture to back up our contention, re hope in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This first from Psalm 34 – The Lord hears the righteous. The psalmist declares: ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.’ (Ps; 34:17-20) 

What marvellous words of assurance friends! And just in case you don’t believe that psalmist, then listen to the Sons of Korah from Psalm 46, who tell us in no uncertain terms: ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help (an abundantly available help) in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst (the heart) of the sea. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.   Selah.’ (Ps. 46:1-3) 

But all talk aside friends, there is only one way to find out if all of that is true; and that’s by putting one’s hope, faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Otherwise you’ll just keep wandering aimlessly in the wilderness like the Israelites did so long ago. And in these desperate and uncertain times, our lives definitely call for less talk and more action! So let’s get to some serious action nuh! Much LOVE!

…talk is a precursor to action…that means…talk without action is useless…                                                                                                     

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8