Jonah 1:4-6, 10b
“Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.’…(They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)”
Acts 27:14, 18, 21a, 22a, 25b
“Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the ‘northeaster,’ swept down from the island…We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard…After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘Men…I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost…I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.’”
Hebrews 6:18b-20a
“…we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”
Lord God, you ride over the earth on the wings of the wind.
If we refuse to cry out to you, we are tossed and terrified in the storm. When our hope is anchored in your word, we sail through disaster in deep calm.
Like links in a chain, let our constant prayers secure us to solid ground. May we boast in the weight of your glory and live to see the desperate saved.
In Christ’s name we pray, our Saviour who sank beneath the waves that we might rest in heaven’s harbour.
Listen to ‘Anchored’ (track 6) by Enfield