I was facing a long overdue colonoscopy. Since I don’t tolerate chemicals well, I opted to not do the sedation. The Lord gave me these two verses. I quoted them over and over days before. I made them like wallpaper on my heart.

Psalm 119:116-117 says, “Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe, and I shall observe Your statutes continually..” 

The attending doctor could not understand why anyone would not want to have sedation. I told her that I had a personal relationship with Jesus. He would help me. He did! I kept the verses in my thoughts the whole time. 

Anchor verses secure us when all is shaking around us. They ensure our hearts that He is Faithful to carry out His word. Titus 1:2 states, “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

I love Psalm 119:89. It says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” Our Creator is the Eternal Word.

As we go through our trials, the Lord is working to deepen our hope of eternal life. Romans 5:3-4 is the progression. It says, “…knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Hebrews 6:19 says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.” Romans 5:5 says of our anchor-hope, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I love the words to the hymn “When We See Christ.” Think of the moment we meet the Lord face to face. “…all sorrow will erase…so bravely run the race til we see Christ.” We are in a race.

We need anchor verses that will hold us firm through our trials, hardships, disappointments, etc. A good one to have when we face what seems to be insurmountable is Luke 1:37. It says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Our intimate communion with the Lord anchors our hearts.

The children of Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry ground. Afterwards Joshua instructed them to build a memorial. 12 men each carried a stone from the midst of the Jordan. Joshua 4:2 says, “…where the priests’ feet stood firm…” 

They carried them on their shoulders ~ large stones! They were set up where they lodged that night. Verse 6 says, “That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean to you?”

Do you have ‘memorial stones’ in your life as a testimony of how the Lord delivered you? There is a great book. “Signs Of God Along The Way – Walking His Trail” by Steve and Ginny Saint. 17 stories from their memorial stones.

After my 2017 brain injury I couldn’t see clearly to read. I made memorial stones that I called my warfare art. I wrote a verse or phrases from verses that had sustaining meaning with a drawing in water color. 11 of them are in my memorial stone book: “He Drew Me Out Of Deep Waters: encouragement for hard trials.”

I was recounting when the children of Israel were at the Red Sea. Marveling before the Lord about His miraculous intervention. Exodus 14:21 says, ‘Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.” Underline dry land in your mind.

As the children of Israel walked across, verse 22 says, “…the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” Can you picture it? Exodus 15:11 says, “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Later they came to Jordan. Joshua 3:13 says, “…as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the waters of the Jordan…the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off…they shall stand as a heap.” Note: verse 15 says that the banks overflowed. Verse 17 says that the priests, “…stood firm on dry ground…”

With ‘glory in tribulations’ still in my mind, I came to Psalm 119 in my daily reading. The writer of that psalm highlighted the rewards of afflictions or trials. Verses 49-50 say, “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.” 

Verse 67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” Verse 71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn Your statutes.” Verse 75 says, “I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”:

Verse 92 says, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.” Verse 107 says, “I am afflicted very much; revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.” Verse 143 says, “Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights.” 

Verse 153 says, “Consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget Your law.” Note how God’s integrated word undergirds.

I have been thinking about what it means to glory in our tribulations. How do you picture it in your own life?. Have you really boasted about the trial you are in? To glory in our trials is to express our settled confidence ~ that inner unshakeable knowing in the Lord’s ability to fulfill His purpose in us through them.

Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of Hebrews 10:36. It says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Jesus set the example. He endured the cross for us, fulfilling the will of His Father.

It is God’s will that we endure our trials. Paul did it by boasting, so that he lived in the power of Christ’s resurrection. 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Our trials are designed by the only One who knows what we need, in order to be conformed to His image.

John 15:1-8 is about abiding in the vine. Verse 5 cuts off any opportunity for self. It says, “…for without Me you can do nothing.” Verse 7 in the Amplified says, “If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.”

The receiving is predicated on abiding. I love the words, ‘vitally united’ because they speak of oneness or cohesiveness. It means to resist separation. Verse 8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

It was after my fall into the ravine in 1977 that the Lord taught me an essential life skill. He wooed me into intimate communion with Him. It changed my life, and continues to change it. Fruit that glorifies Him comes through being with Him, not doing things for Him.

We breathe in His Presence. We commune Heart to heart. He sustains us through His word, which rises and wraps around us to comfort and undergird.

I was meditating on Romans 5:3. I had to stop at, “…we also glory in tribulations…” The Greek word for glory is to boast, to vaunt, to exult proudly. It is the same word that Paul used in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

He begged the Lord three times to remove his thorn in the flesh. The Lord stated, “…My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…” Paul immediately replied, “…Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Now think of the trial you are in or have just come through. Did you truly glory in it? Did you boast to others about your trial? Romans 5:3 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.”

How does this all fit? We want to complain. Instead we switch gears to boast about our trial, and our flesh is instantly silenced.

God’s will is stated through Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust…”

From the moment we accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, our journey of progressive sanctification begins. As we read God’s word daily for understanding, the Holy Spirit will point out areas where pockets of lust remain. Lusts are unbridled thoughts that lead to actions without thought of consequences. Lust clearly defines a lack of self-control. 

Note that the evidence we are submitted to the Holy Spirit’s control are the bookend fruit of love and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. Verse 24 says, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Application: before you read a book, watch a movie, act out a questionable thought, or become involved in a conversation, ask “Will this glorify the Lord?” If not, flee it without dialoguing in your mind if you should or shouldn’t. 

Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that we are in a race. One mandate for purity is Galatians 5:16. Walking consistently in the Spirit, allows the Holy Spirit to war against our fleshly inclinations. 

Verse 19 says, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness.” Matthew 15:19 says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…adulteries, fornications…”

Psalm 18:26 says, “With the pure You will show Yourself pure…” Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” A passion for purity is cultivated through our intimate communion with the Lord.

As my feet hit the floor every morning, I ask the Lord to help me glorify Him through my thoughts, words, and actions. It sets my parameters for the day. Psalm 19:7-8 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

We fulfill our holy calling when we glorify the Lord. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory…”