Anchor Points
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
My First Night in El Salvador
You might be asking, what is a spiritual reset button? And what does it have to do with leaving my past in the past? To answer that question, we need to journey back to March of 2012 on my first day in San Salvador, El Salvador. My dad and I had gone to El Salvador for a week that spring to serve alongside two missionary families that I know from college. This trip was not like most mission trips where you go with a large group, and all stay together as a group. Just my dad and I went, and we stayed at the homes of both families during the week, shadowing them on their regular weekly routine.
At the end of the first day, my dad and I retired to our room, where we slept in bunk beds. He was on the bottom, and I was on the top bunk. Laying in bed, a fear like I had never known before began to grow in my heart. Maybe it was from reading one to many books where the missionaries were martyred for their faith? Perhaps it was the stories my friends shared that night about the local gang violence or the man who was left for dead in front of the gate to their home? Or maybe it was the armed guard and howling of his dog as they walked around the outside of the compound all night long? Whatever it was, I was terrified and began trying everything I could to try to fall asleep. I tried breathing techniques. I tried reciting scripture in my head (I have never been good at memorizing scripture). I tried to sing worship songs in my head, but I couldn’t think of a single lyric. After what felt like forever, the only thing that I could think of was the following four lines, which I believe are a mismatch of two songs stuck together.
Blessed be your name
For your name is great and greatly to be praised
I sing praises to your name
For your name is great and greatly to be praised
I must have repeated those four lines over and over a hundred times until the fear dissipated, and I fell asleep. Now it wasn’t like I woke up the next morning, and the Lord said to me that those four lines were going to be my spiritual reset button.
5 Years Later
It wasn’t until November 2017 that the Lord even revealed to me the real significance of those four lines and how they would impact my life moving forward. Like many things the Lord does, the importance of those four lines developed slowly over time. Time and time again since 2012, God would remind me of those four lines when I needed to get unstuck spiritually. I would repeat them over and over in my head, and it would take me back to that ANCHOR moment in time on my first day in El Salvador.
At the end of 2018, I began praying and asking God why these four lines were so significant for me? I wanted to understand if the idea of a spiritual reset button was even Biblical. If so, how did it connect to the Bible? As I was studying the book of Genesis, the Lord revealed to me that my spiritual reset button was a lot like when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all built altars to God to signify a critical moment in their journey. In the coming weeks, I am going to explore each time that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built an altar to God, attempting to answer three questions.
What happened before and after each altar was built?
What was the significance of each altar?
How does each altar connect to the idea of leaving our past in the past?
Sample Prayer
Thank you God for the journey of life. Thank you for your love for me. God sometimes I just get stuck and don’t know how to move forward. Help me to remember the many ANCHOR points in my life were you have been so faithful. Help me to draw strength from those ANCHOR points so that I can move forward in trust as you light the way one step at a time.
Featured Music
Tenth Avenue North - Break of Day
Feeling stuck? Thoughts of your past taking up too much space in your mind? This is a great song that brings me encouragement to keep moving forward knowing that breakthrough is right around the corner.
About the Author
Nathan Miller
You may know me as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, mentor, ultra marathoner runner, NBA basketball enthusiast, fan of all things tech, music lover and writer. However, the life blood that flows through everything that I strive to be comes from a desire for greater intimacy with Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Provider, my Lord and most of all my best friend.