Anchored: Place of Hope

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”  – Hebrews 6:19 NLT

 An anchor is designed to keep a vessel from drifting because of wind, waves, or currents. Its primary purposes are to:

• Hold the vessel securely in place.
• Prevent it from drifting off course.
• Provide stability during changing conditions.
• Protect the vessel during storms.

The purpose of the anchor is not to remove the storm, but to provide stability in the storm.

The Moore, Oklahoma Tornado

On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, severe thunderstorms were developing across central Oklahoma. At 2:56 PM, a tornado touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Within minutes, it had become a violent EF5 tornado.

It traveled through Newcastle, south Oklahoma City, and Moore for roughly 40 minutes, leaving a path of catastrophic destruction. The National Weather Service ultimately rated it EF5, with winds estimated at more than 200 mph. It killed 24 people, injured 212, and caused approximately $2 billion in damage.

The tornado didn’t just damage houses. It destroyed them.

The National Weather Service documented neighborhoods where the destruction was so severe that more than 300 homes received EF4 or EF5 damage. Buildings were destroyed, vehicles were thrown, businesses were demolished, and large structures were ripped apart. At Orr Family Farm, two storage tanks weighing approximately 10 tons each were picked up and thrown about half a mile.

Then the tornado reached Briarwood Elementary School.

The school was heavily destroyed and received an EF5 damage rating. Remarkably, no children were killed there, despite the school being occupied during the tornado.

But shortly afterward, the tornado struck Plaza Towers Elementary School. The damage was catastrophic, and seven children were killed when a wall collapsed. Nine more people were killed in homes within a quarter mile of the school.

The tornado continued through Moore, destroying homes, businesses, the Moore Medical Center, a post office, and other buildings.

Although there was a warning, the tornado itself developed rapidly and became violent within minutes. There was very little time, if any, to prepare and to take shelter.

If there had been more time to be prepared, I am sure fewer lives would have been lost.

Storms are so unpredictable.

There will be storms in our life that will come, and we will have plenty of warning to prepare. Then there will be storms in our life that come without warning—and will catch us off guard.

The solution is not to wait for a storm. It is to be prepared before it.

Noah: Prepared Before the Storm

The days of Noah were very wicked. Matter of fact, this is what the Bible says about it:

Genesis 6:5-6
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

But there was one man that found favor, and that was Noah.

God called Noah to build a boat to prepare for a storm that had never happened before.

Up to this moment, no one had ever seen rain.

But for decades, Noah’s sermon was preached loud and clear to the world around him that rain was coming. The weather forecast fell on deaf ears on everyone besides Noah’s family.

They were busy in life instead of being busy in preparation.

For about a hundred years, the sound of construction rocked them to spiritual sleep instead of having spiritual awareness of the impending storm.

The book of Matthew summarizes the demise of the wicked who did not heed the warning of the soon disaster of the flood waters.

Matthew 24:37-39
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Storms do not have to destroy you.

We have a choice: to be ready for the storm or to ignore the warnings of the imminent threat of future weather.

Being prepared before the storm will save you.

Not being prepared will destroy you.

That is why the Bible says, today is the day of salvation.