[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/Feb/2021]
Things feel pretty strange at the moment, don’t they?
Unsettling … uncertain … or perhaps a bit boring and ‘flat’?
Maybe you’re doing fine & things feel okay, or maybe life feels quite a struggle. In these unprecedented times you might even feel all of the above throughout the course of a single day. I know I have! It’s like being on a boat at sea, riding the waves -one minute on the crest of a swell, clinging on with white knuckles, and then suddenly in the trough at the bottom, where it’s quiet and calm. Difficult to know your port from your starboard …
Such a picture reminds me of the song ‘Will your anchor hold’ by Priscilla Jayne Owens (1882), based on a verse in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews which tells us:
“we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” [Hebrews 6 v9]
Or, as Owens puts it “an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows (large waves) roll”.
The hope that Paul is talking about is the assurance that comes through Jesus who has secured our relationship with God through his life, death and resurrection. Paul likens this hope to an anchor for our souls. A ship’s anchor holds it firm, stopping it from drifting. We can therefore be totally secure in Jesus who holds us and loves us unconditionally, completely, endlessly. Whatever happens we can count on Him. Jesus is our Rock [1 Samuel 2 v2] and Cornerstone [Isaiah 28 v16].
This week as I’ve reflected on this song and the passage it refers to, I’ve had to consider again what or who is my anchor, especially “in the storms of life” when “the cables strain”. It’s easy to drift ‘off course’ & become disconnected. Do I look to Jesus and His promises or have I tended to look to my own (flawed) inner resources, others, busy-ness and distractions such as the Internet or TV in the belief they will give me stability and security?
Praise God that there is no need to condemn ourselves or any of our feelings. We can be encouraged by the certainty that Jesus loves us, oh how He loves us – unconditionally, completely, endlessly. He is the perfect example of love and He is oh so patient. We are grounded in Him because of who He is rather than who we are. We just need to trust in Him. He will never let us go.
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Contributed by Sarah Bell; © Sarah Bell