Journaling/Blogging/Praying through a Playlist 3: Jesus Is My Only Anchor

First things first, thanks to my BIL and SIL (brother- and sister-in-law) for the CD of music they've discovered on NoiseTrade. There are a lot of songs floating through my mind right now and lots of ideas for playlist posts, but one of the songs from their gift CD is perfect for right now. It's called "Anchor" by Ross King, and I had already decided to post the lyrics and write a little about it before it had even played through and then it used the word "exegesis" and totally became a shoe-in for adding to the blog. So, second thing second, a shout-out to my "besty" Rachel, who has to be the first friend I've ever had who uses the word "exegesis" like it's a normal word to use.

Anyway, here's the song:

It's bigger than your doctrine 

Cause there's only so much mystery

That doctrine can explain

It's bigger than tradition

Cause you'll turn around and see that

All of your traditions have been changed

Hear what I am saying

All these things are fading

It's bigger than your science

Cause your soul cannot be saved by anything

That scientists can prove

And it's bigger than compliance

Cause even compliant people

Can be lured away from what is true

Hear what I am saying

Only trust in One Thing

Jesus is my only Anchor

Jesus is the only Way

Very few things last forever

And everything else floats away

It's bigger than your politic

Cause there is no policy 

that rescues us out of the Shadow-lands

It's bigger than your rhetoric

Cause this is a living Word, you speak it

With your feet and with your hands

Hear what I am saying

All these things are fading

It's more than just your conscience

Cause your conscience may be clean, that doesn't mean

That you are innocent

It's more than circumstances

Cause when your circumstances change,

How will you keep yourself content?

Hear what I am saying

Only trust in One Thing

Jesus is my only Anchor

Jesus is the only Way

Very few things last forever

Everything else floats away

Jesus is my only Lifeline

When I'm drifting in the sea

Very few things can be trusted

Only one thing rescues me

We want it to be easy

To find the safest version of the truth

But we'll find out what we really believe

When all we have to hold is You

It's bigger than the words your preacher preaches

Cause I guarantee sometimes you will forget what you have heard

It's bigger than your Bible exegesis

Cause there are bound to be some days when you don't

Understand a word

Hear what I am saying

Only trust in One Thing

Jesus is my only Anchor

Jesus is the only Way

Very few things last forever

Everything else floats away

Jesus is my only Lifeline

When I'm drifting in the sea

Very few things can be trusted

Only one thing rescues me

The song pretty much says it all. If you read back over the posts of this blog, you can probably find at least one place where I've dealt with frustration over the imperfections and fallibilities of everything addressed in this song: doctrine, tradition, science, compliance (living it "right" by a standard and not knowing which standard is right), politics (public education!), rhetoric (worse, in my case, semantics), conscience, contentment, preaching and teaching, and struggling to understand the Scriptures.

The answer is so ridiculously simple yet so mysteriously and miraculously complex that it should be the sole topic of this blog and the only reason I live: Jesus is my only anchor.

"Everything else floats away..." How true could anything be? It reminds me of my old standby favorite, Ecclesiastes. "Everything is vanity." Just last night the end of Ecclesiastes came to mind so strongly that I looked it up and copied the final three verses onto the inside cover of my journal as a reminder, in this continuous soul-searching and book-reading frenzy of my life, what really matters.

But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

Does this mean I'm through with the soul-searching, the questioning, the angst, the struggles? I'm laughing at myself alone in my room even as I write that. Yeah right I can almost hear my husband saying. I think I'll always have plenty of angst to go around, but Jacob didn't become Israel until he wrestled, and I think my soul is always going to do more than its share of striving.


That being said, my third mention of family and friends goes to Meagan Anderson, whom I thank for her comment on my previous post. The sermon she suggested entitled "Certainty"  (Click here to listen.) had many great points, including one that sticks with me the most strongly: The first step in getting certainty is wanting to have it. The pastor challenged the members of the congregation first to consider whether they even wanted certainty. Certainty, after all, comes with a price. It comes with commitment. Change. Moving forward. I listened to that part of the sermon twice. He says something about not using seeking as an excuse to stay in the same place, and I do not want that to be me. I do not want my search to be an excuse or the place I stay stuck. His question was basically "Are you the kind of person who values the hunt over the finding?"And my answer is no. I don't want to keep floundering away hunting for things that are, as Ecclesiastes puts it, "futility and striving after wind."


Striving, okay. Striving after wind, no.


Psalm 46:10 the way most translations word it is alright, but Psalm 46:10 in the NSAV is so awesome.

Cease striving and know that I am God.

Cease striving. Cease striving. Cease striving. And KNOW that I am God.

Soul-searching notwithstanding, there is one thing about which I can be certain-- that God said "I Am," that He said to cease striving because He Is. I know I'm repeating my last post, but I'm fascinated right now with the fact that God Is and that He has taken away all my doubt of that fact. 

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

I think it's time for a little less striving and struggling and a lot more delving deep into what it is to fear God and keep His commandments. I've made up my mind that I am certain of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit. (Or He has made up my mind.) And I hope this blog begins to reflect a little bit more of that in the midst of the questions.


Finally, last name drop(s) of the post-- Molly Hurst. Molly is one of my dearest friends, a best friend from all the way back in high school in Newport, Tennessee and easily one of the two purest, sweetest souls I know in the world (Katie Chambers Robertson being the other). Molly keeps a blog too, and hers is named "My Anchor Holds." The reference is to Hebrews 6:19-20 "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever..." I am grateful for friends like Molly and Katie who remind me how possible it is to believe with assurance, to be anchored in Christ, unwavering in His love.


Questions, like rains and winds, may come. The tides of doctrine, tradition, and science, and even conscience may all flow contrary to the Way.


But, praise God, my anchor holds. And my anchor is Christ.