The Anchor of My Soul

Yesterday I went through my first round of chemotherapy - cisplatin in combination with a trial drug called S1. I was amazed at the wonderful sense of peace I experienced during the day, a direct result of the Lord's grace in my life (see yesterday's post, "This is the Day").

Today I've been meditating on Hebrews 6:18-20, which says:

"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. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf..."

This passage very much describes the firmness of my faith in Christ. I am a good example of one who has indeed "fled to take hold of the hoped offered" to me in the person of Jesus.

The noun "anchor" is defined at Dictionary.com in the following ways:

• A mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving


• A central cohesive source of support and stability


• A rigid point of support, as for securing a rope


• A source of security or stability

In its verb form, "anchor" is also defined as follows:

• To hold fast by or as if by an anchor.


• To relate psychologically to a point or frame of reference (as to a person, a situation, an object, or a conceptual scheme)

And according to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the word "anchor" in Hebrews 6:19 "is used metaphorically for that which supports or keeps one steadfast in the time of trial or of doubt. It is an emblem of hope."

The Message describes this "anchored" experience as "an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God..." And The Amplified Bible describes it as "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it - a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil."

When you hit a crisis in life, that's the point when your life anchors are tested. If your anchor is money or material possessions, or your job, or your personal plans, that anchor will not prove reliable, and it is often because one's life anchor is being tested (for example, when a life crisis hits), that people suddenly become open to the Lord. That's why so many turn to Christ at the point of personal crisis. As long as everything is "smooth sailing", we can be deceived into thinking that the anchor systems offered by this world are adequate.

On the other hand, I've heard non-believers say, "Oh, that's OK if you need a crutch for life." My response is often, "What crutches do you have?" It's easy to talk about another person's "crutches" when everything is going "OK" for you personally, but no one ridicules a person who is genuinely wounded and needs some kind of assistance. And when a person goes through a crisis, it is arrogance to say they will not pass up the offer of a "crutch" of some kind - if it's a financial crisis, then friends or family may help, or they may rely on the government welfare system - aren't these "crutches"? If a person is seriously ill, will he refuse medical help because, "No, I don't want a crutch in life?" And so, when viewed in this way, we can say, yes, God is there when we are wounded physically, emotionally or spirtually and can be, for us, a temporary "crutch" until we are able to stand on our own feet.

But the "crutch" metaphor is actually flawed and it is, I believe, demeaning to refer to God simply as a "crutch for life" (how would my wife like it if I simply viewed her on those terms?). I prefer the "anchor" metaphor that the Bible itself uses. I have a firm anchor system for my life, and this came to me with great clarity when I visited a friend recently in hospital who is going through an almost identical experience to me. Like me, she has advanced cancer with a not-too-positive prognosis. And although she is rallying well, she is needing to draw on personal reserves of fortitute and hope in order to face the future. She's scrambling to find an effective anchor system for her life. Family and friends will go a long way to helping with this, but I've realised, like never before, that this is precisely the role that God has given himself to fill.

It is the ever-present quality of God's nature which makes his anchor system so effective. It is precisely because Jesus is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) that I can trust him as an anchor for my life. This why the hope we have in Jesus is described as "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure..." Like a true anchor, it reaches to a place a fixed stability unaffected by the storm.

A good example of how an anchor works is found in Acts 27:29-41. On his way to Rome, Paul's ship encounters a tempest which threatens to destroy the ship. Verse 29 says:

"Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight."

Four anchors were used in an attempt to save the ship, yet verse 41 tells us that eventually "the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf." All four anchors failed, because they were no match for the ferocity of the storm.

For an anchor to be effective it must have the following qualities:

1. It must be unbreakable - The nature of the lifeline offered in Jesus fulfils this need exactly. My relationship with God through Jesus is strong and steadfast. Even my own failings cannot break this lifeline (note 2 Timothy 2:13), for God has provided for a system of forgiveness and empowerment more than adequate to help me through each and every situation. I know that I can trust the relationship I have with God, through thick and thin, that I have been "engraved...on the palms of [God's] hands" (Isaiah 49:16), and that "no one can snatch [me] out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29).

2. It must be fixed to a point of total stability - As strong as the anchor itself may be, unless it is attached to something which cannot move, it is just so much dead weight. Even partial stability is not enough; only total stability will work. This is why Hebrews 6:19-20 says that my anchor "enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." In other words, the anchor is fixed to the most stable point in the entire universe - the very throne of God himself, where Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father (note Ephesians 2:6-7; Hebrews 1:3).

3. It must be used - This is why the Bible emphasises not just the hearing of God's Word, but the putting of God's Word into practice (Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22), for an anchor only works when it is actually used.

There is a key word for each of these anchor-like qualities:

1. Covenant - this has to do with the nature of my relationship with God through Jesus. The strength of this anchor is only as strong as the covenant that God has made in Christ (as with any anchor, it is only as strong as it's weakest link). That's why the whole context of Hebrews 6:19-20 is one of covenant - a covenant that has been made between God and me in Jesus, which is sure and unbreakable by the circumstances of life.

2. Faithfulness - this has to do with God's character, and this is why Hebrews 6:19-20 says that the anchor is based on "two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie." Those two "unchangeable things" are 1) the promise God made to initiate the covenant, and 2) the oath that God made when he established the covenant. This is a double-barrelled, iron-clad guarantee from God himself!

3. Faith - this is the part that I play in this anchoring process. By faith, I put this firm and secure anchor into use (read James 1:6-8).

I've already mentioned that yesterday, as I went through chemotherapy, I was amazed by the peace I felt - but I guess I shouldn't have been amazed. This was simply the secure anchor system I have in Jesus at work.