To Those In The Storm...

Feeling stuck in a storm you didn’t choose? We name the season as a year of the anchor and the altar—and walk straight into what that means for finances, relationships, work, and the restlessness under your skin. We talk about the fear of the Lord not as dread, but as reverence that sets your priorities, your loves, and your definition of success. When applause and image feel urgent, we explore why wisdom starts with worship and why turning from what corrodes your heart is real understanding.

We revisit Jonah to confront how our hearts recoil at God’s compassion for people we’d rather judge. That resistance fuels storms that are actually mercy, steering us back to God’s shore. Then we sit with Jacob, who wrestled for a blessing while still trying to steer God; his limp became the door to identity and peace. From there we name a hard line: you cannot be loyal to money and loyal to God at the same time. Financial pressure can be a test and a gift—an invitation to let go, listen, and allow God to reorder trust, timing, and direction.

You’ll hear a simple, piercing image: you are an arrow in God’s hand. Arrows don’t dictate the bow, the draw, or the release. Yielding your heart, aim, and schedule to the Archer is how storms lose their voice. We talk about clean hands and a pure heart, career and calling shaped by design rather than debt or hype, and how to spot friendship with the world when it stops glorifying Jesus first. In strong headwinds, we practice childlike trust, stand when it’s easier to drift, and pray until peace speaks louder than panic.

Come anchor in God’s goodness and live at the altar of surrender. If this moves you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s in a storm, and leave a review to help more listeners find their way back to the narrow path.

Transcript

Year Of The Anchor And Altar

The Fear Of The Lord Defined

Jonah’s Resistance And Worldliness

Wisdom From Job 28:28

Jacob’s Wrestling And Letting Go

Money, Loyalty, And Testing

Arrows In God’s Hands

Storm As Mercy And Return

Surrendering Provision And Calling

Be Anchored As Winds Rise

Prayer For Purity And Childlike Trust

Commanded Direction And Assurance

Stand Firm With Humility And Peace

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey there. I pray that you are in the Lord's hands and you discern his love. I am very concerned for so many. I spent a few minutes kind of looking at various people's posts and updates, and very concerned for a lot of people. There's a lot of people in a storm, they don't even know it. There are many of us that are in a storm and we do know it. And I feel the spirit of God wants me to remind you this is the year of the anchor and the year of the altar. It's a year of surrender to the goodness of God. The goodness of God. The Spirit of the Lord wants you to know the importance of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord, the fear of nothing else. That word means to revere him, to hold him in the highest place of esteem, of intimacy, of delight and pursuit, to see him as the preeminence, as it is said about Jesus in Colossians 1. So why am I bringing this up? So many are in a storm financially, relationally, with your employment, physically, and you're wondering, what is this about? You're wondering, how do I get out of this? And I want to remind you of Jonah. Jonah was in a storm. He had turned his heart away from God because he was not pleased with God's character. God wanted him to be compassionate and unusually loving and caring to a people that were enmity to Israelites. And Jonah could not stand it. He couldn't stand the compassion of God for people he could not abide, he could not appreciate. And so he turned his way from God's way. He did not continue in the fear of the Lord, but began to fear man and fear cultural standards and fear being friends with someone, being a friend to a certain person or people. The point is, he turned from his adoration and service to the Lord. And this can be so subtle. I'm looking this morning on Facebook, and there are so many people who are celebrating friendship with the world. And it's gonna come across as unusual, unnecessary to many people. It's gonna come across as hyper-spiritual. But the Bible says that he that is friends with the world cannot call himself a follower of the Lord. We are pursuing, so many of us, earthly treasure, we are pursuing man's affirmation, we are pursuing images that are pleasing to man because we're using man's standard as our standard of pursuit. Success is being defined by someone other than the Lord. If you look through scripture, there are a lot of people the Lord would call successful who died empty. And it's not popular. So the antidote is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Can I write I read this to you? The scripture says, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding. That's Job 28-28. God has spoken twice. 28-28, that double puts an emphasis on the scripture. That is a hyper-important spiritual scripture to the Lord because he's emphasizing it. That wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is wisdom. And to shun evil is understanding. Why am I saying this? I am discerning so many people are in a storm because this is your opportunity to surrender to God. Jacob found himself wrestling with the Lord and didn't want to let God go because he wanted to control God. He wanted God to fit into his box of what God should desire for him and what God should do for him or not. I'm the grandson of Abram and Abraham. I'm the son of Isaac. I'm I'm the son of blessing. I received the blessing even though I stole it. And so I'm going to control God because I believe I'm at the center of my life. I've I've brought myself this far. And it's he came to a place where he was under duress, trying to get away from his own brother. He feared his life. And it's when we fear our life enough to let God speak is when we come to a place of alignment. And I want you to know that you cannot allow yourself to fear anyone but God. Don't fear your credit score being low. Don't fear bankruptcy. Don't fear divorce. Don't fear anything that would bring you to a place of emptiness, but follow God. Don't follow money. God says in his word that you will love money and you cannot love him. It's impossible to do both. It says you'll be loyal to the one and hate the other and be disloyal to the other. You can't be loyal to money and God. And God will test all of us here. So if you're facing financial struggle, it's God's opportunity. He's giving you to cry out and say, Lord, why? Where am I? And let go, like Jacob let go. He said, I won't let you go until you bless me. He didn't understand that the blessing was in him letting go. So God had to help him by what disabling him, which enabled him to let go. And that's when God says, You have wrestled with God and won. You only win with God when you seek to please him first. I'm going to say that again. You will only win with God when you seek to please him first. He asks for you to bring your best offering. Don't bring anything limp, lame. Don't bring anything that's got a broken leg or is defiled in any way. Bring the pure heart to the Lord. Bring your pure heart. I just want to please you. I just want to know you. I just want to be with you. If I found favor in your eyes, now I can ask for something. I want to find favor in your eyes by being obedient and being a servant-hearted person, the pursuit of God. And so the whole world is seeking this broad way that leads to destruction. The Bible says the narrow way leads to life, and few find it. And this is why I'm grieved this morning. I'm seeing pastors and their children celebrating worldliness, celebrating friendship with the world. How do I know I'm being a friend with the world? If it doesn't glorify Jesus Christ primarily, if you're not doing it out of a reckless abandon to say yes and amen to everything God says, then there is an alignment needed for you in the arrow and the bow of God. You are an arrow, and the Lord wants you in his hands. He wants to be guiding you. You need to put your heart in his hands and let him control your heart. Let him control your direction. Let him desire uh determine when you're released into something. And when you're released into it, it has to be by the spirit. That's why you're in the in the air as the arrow. God calls us arrows in the scriptures. Because of this, we are to let go. And I'm here to encourage somebody. You're in the storm because God ordained it. This is his favor, this is his compassion. He's he's showing you what he showed in his parable of the prodigal son. He's showing you the emptiness required for intimacy. You've got to realize you're not your own. You're not in control. Even when you want to be in control, God literally is restricting and restraining you from true freedom, peace, righteousness, and joy. The Bible says, Who will ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who will stand in this holy place? He that has pure, a pure heart and clean hands. Don't put your hands on anything God doesn't allow. Don't pursue anything without a pure heart after the Lord. So this is the year of the anchor, and he's putting us in these situations. So we'll cry out to him and we'll then listen to the whisper in the darkness. Where is he calling you to surrender something to him? Is he calling you to surrender your own provision to him so that you won't chase money and chase a position? So many people are not experiencing freedom financially because they have been taught to go to college and pursue a degree. Or if you didn't go to college, pursue any job. Instead of pursuing God's heart for you and what his design for you would require for you to work in. Your design is patterned for a specific work. And it's a work from him. So I'm going to wrap up here. It's the year of the anchor. Be be anchored in God. It's a time of strong headwinds. The scriptures say there's a time when the winds are contrary, where you're heading against the spirit and you cannot find your way. But Jesus says, peace to the storm. If you go to Jesus, he will calm the storm. And the storm is in your heart. I want to pray for you and I want to release you into this now, this adventure of discovering the heart of God for you. Father, I pray wickedness will not be our pursuit. I pray wickedness will not be, we won't even be capable of wickedness. That we will pursue righteousness and light, that we will be children of light. Let us learn to be children. You are a child. God wants you to be in his bosom. Jesus spoke through David, and he said, I'm like a child just weaned on the chest of my mother. I mean, he's saying, I'm I'm not getting, I'm not getting away from my God, even though I could try to seek independence. Where the Lord has released me, I'm still designing myself to stay close. I'm not trying to run off just because I can afford now, through my natural ability, to feed myself or to eat from another place. Be as a child, just wean. You don't want to leave. You just want to stay right there. Moses said, if you don't go with us, don't take us from here. God had just called the people of Israel and stiff-necked. And I want to pray for you now. Allow your direction to be designed and commanded by the Lord. When the Lord says he commanded something, that word also means to be assigned and it also means to be ordained. When God says this is the way, he is literally putting you in a position of direction by the power of his spirit. It is a direction that has already been graced for you. You have favor and affirmation. You can trust it. No matter what it looks like, I want to say that again, no matter what it looks like, God says you can trust my assignment when I make a command for you. Be anchored in God. Stay right there. Allow the weight of his glory to anchor you. The Bible says he will not allow the righteous to be moved. Stand in the evil day, doing everything to stand, praying in the spirit. Pray his heart in this season, and you will be blessed. Wisdom brings success, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Don't forget that everything starts with humility. Everything. I pray the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you, be gracious to you. May He lift his countenance upon you and give you peace in Jesus' name. I love you.