Soul Anchor

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Hebrews 6:17-19a

I try to be real when I write these, so let me just say that having a seminary degree and working full time for the Lord does not mean I have all the answers or an automatic understanding of why less than pleasant things happen to people, especially to people who have put their faith and trust in Jesus. Life is hard for everyone on this planet, harder for some than others of course but followers of Christ are just as likely to lose their jobs, have their cars breakdown when their bank accounts are near empty, be injured, get cancer, be laid up by mystery viruses, be trapped in the rubble of an earthquake and worse. For instance as I write this the little house I share with my husband, a dog and a cat has developed not only some sort of electrical problem but also a plumbing problem – woohoo I’m so excited… not. I’m not at all afraid to ask God hard questions. I trust Him even in those moments when I don’t like what I am experiencing or what people I care about are experiencing or just the general mess happening in our world.

This week’s passage comes from just about the middle of the book of Hebrews. The whole book is an honest letter acknowledging the ups and downs of life and encouraging the readers and hearers to stand fast trusting the Lord will make good on all of His promises. In the verses leading up to this week’s the writer to talking about the strength of the promise God made to Abraham, it wasn’t just an ordinary promise that could possibly have been broken, this was a promise that was integral to God’s plan for redeeming mankind and to let Abraham know He was super serious about keeping that promise He swore an oath on the promise. Since God is righteous and holy there is no way God would back out on the promise, especially a promise He secured with an oath.

That brings us to a place not unlike the Rock from last week. You see the hope we can have by trusting in a mighty God, whose character does not falter and who will because He is God – keep all of His promises – is a hope that acts like an anchor. Oh the boat will still rock, it might even feel like its drifting but a well secured anchor will keep the boat secure. So the hope God offers us is an anchor for our souls – it will hold even when we don’t have all the answers, or the answers aren’t what we wanted to hear. Why will it hold? It will hold because it’s not caught on something that can break, it not an anchor made of iron than can fail if the storm is too great. This anchor reaches into the holiest place and is held firmly by the One who cast it from His own life – Jesus. He will not let it go. God’s promises will stand and each one, in accordance with His plan and timing will be fulfilled for each one of us who trust in Him above all else.

This week no matter what your circumstances – great, so-so or are you kidding me? Let God’s anchor of hope drop right into the middle of your life and secure your soul with His amazing promises.

A Prayer

Father – Thank you for the soul securing anchor the hope of Your promises provides for us. In those moments when we seem to be drifting or the boat of life seems to be rocking a little more than we’d like and the storm clouds around us threaten us with darkness – show us in a new way the strength of that anchor and the light it brings. Then when life settles and another symbol of your promises appears, show us how we can encourage others along the way. In the name of Jesus, our soul anchor – Amen.