The passenger liner was steaming along in a flat calm sea, in the blue waters of the Mediterranean. On the bridge was Captain Fletcher, the second officer, the third officer and a young cadet officer. The captain was in the habit of throwing questions on seamanship at his young cadet officers to keep them on their toes. The cadet was on the starboard wing of the bridge looking through his binoculars, when the captain suddenly barked out, “Mr Johnson, what would you do if we suddenly met a violent storm?” “I’d slow the ship down and throw out a sea anchor, sir.” The captain retorted, “But what would you do if we met another storm approaching?” “I’d throw out another sea anchor, sir.” “Then what would you do if the storms kept on coming.” asked the captain. “I’d keep on throwing out sea anchors, sir,” replied the young officer. “Hold on a minute son,” said the captain, “This ship’s only got two sea anchors, so where are you getting all those anchors from?” The lad smiled and replied, “From the same place that you keep getting all those storms, sir.”

Sometimes our lives are like this and we can be overwhelmed by the storm of fear and frustration that is raging inside us. In times of stress when we worry about redundancy, financial problems, or even ill health, the worry list is endless, but eventually all storms run their course and calm returns .We also don’t have an endless supply of sea anchors to help us weather the storm and stop us running aground. Remember, in our lifetime, we have held many things in our hands and have lost them all, but whatever we have placed in God’s hands, are protected by Him.

“So how could we think God was far away, when we feel him beside us, every hour of every day?”

“When you are faced with a difficult time, you can get through it better by focusing on what you hope to accomplish. Be strong, do what you have to do and move forward, because facing up to reality isn’t always easy, but look at that reality as a friend and teacher.”