SWEET SATURDAY! BY PARRIS BAILEY-
“In the valley of Anchor is a door of hope” Hosea 2:15
I have this little paperback edition book that by now is worn out with use and every page is underlined with dates and comments. In fact I have quite a few of these books I call my friends. “All Loves Excelling” by John Bunyan and “All Things for Good” by Thomas Watson. These books along with the presence of the Lord took me through my kids growing pains, the church’s growing pains and I guess our cities growing pains. (aka-Katrina) They are not my Bible of course, they just make good conversation and steer me in the right direction. One has to watch out who he hangs with and can’t surround oneself with “yes men”. Sometimes its good to face your enemies/fears/doubts and lies. Psalms 119:71 says, “it is good for me that I have been afflicted”. Thomas Watson says, “Affliction teaches us to know ourselves. In prosperity we are for the most part strangers to ourselves.”
The valley of Anchor signifies trouble. “Happy is the man whom God correcteth”. Job 5:17
McClaren’s says, “All is gloomy, damp, hard; and if we look upwards the glen becomes more savage as it rises, and armed foes hold the very throat of the pass. But, however long, however barren, however rugged, however black, however trackless, we may see if we will, a bright form descending the rocky way with radiant eyes and calm lips, God’s messenger, Hope; and the rough rocks are like the doorway through which she comes near to us in our weary struggle. For us all, dear friends, it is true. In all our difficulties and sorrows, be they great or small; in our business perplexities; in the losses that rob our homes of their light; in the petty annoyances that diffuse their irritation through so much of our days; it is within our power to turn them all into occasions for a firmer grasp of God, and so to make them openings by which a happier hope may flow into our souls.”
When I look into the mirror, I don’t’ want to forget when I walk away. The Valley of Anchor will always bring me back to my Father’s voice and to the door of Hope.
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Hab.3:17
Allow the love of the Father, the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of Christ to get a grasp of His purpose and plans in your life.