"By grace to timid hearts that tremble, In tribulation's furnace tried. By grace, in spite of fear and trouble, The Father's heart is open wide. Where could I help and strength secure If grace were not my anchor sure?
"By grace! On this I'll rest when dying; In Jesus' promise I rejoice; For though I know my heart's condition, I also know my Savior's voice. My heart is glad, all grief has flown Since I am saved by grace alone."
The apostle Paul sailed as a prisoner on a ship bound for Rome. The storm-tossed ship neared a rocky coast during the night, so the sailors "let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come" (Acts 27:29b). We too may find ourselves praying for daylight. It may be a plea for an actual sunrise after a long night of illness or fear. We may offer up a desperate petition for the light of hope during a difficult situation or for peace in a crisis of health or work or family. We need an anchor to hold us steady, to keep our faith from shipwreck. What is the anchor that holds us as we pray for daylight? Our hymn answers with this question: "Where could I help and strength secure if grace were not my anchor sure?"
God's grace is the only anchor we need. It is through that secure anchor of grace that God chose us in Christ. God's grace is His undeserved favor toward sinners. His grace does not depend on our ability to earn that favor. His grace does not depend on our fears or failures or on our success and righteous efforts. God's favor toward us depends always and only on His love and His free choice, the choice by which He called us to be His own before we were born, before He even created the world (see Ephesians 1:4). By grace God sent His Son into the world, Jesus our Savior, who suffered and died on the cross so that our sins are forgiven and forever removed from the sight of God. The early daylight of the first Easter morning revealed that Jesus had risen to life in triumph over death. By God's grace through faith in Jesus, we too will rise up from death when He returns on the Last Day.
Through faith in Jesus, we live in the light of God's grace. Our hymn describes some of the circumstances in which the anchor of grace will keep us steady—when we endure tribulation with "timid hearts that tremble," when we experience "fear and trouble," and when we are worried about the sinful nature that is our "heart's condition." Even when we face death, we will rest on God's grace, secure in knowing that God has chosen us to be His own, now and forever. We do not need four anchors. We need only one. "I am saved by grace alone!"
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, Your wondrous grace is my anchor in life and death. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "By Grace I'm Saved," which is number 566 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever experienced hardship due to traveling? Care to share what happened?
2. How can we know that God will preserve us through the storms of life? (See Psalm 40:1-3; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.)
3. How has God shown that He has His children safeguarded for eternity?
Today's Bible Readings: 2 Chronicles 17-18 2 Corinthians 6
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