by Joanie Butman
Years ago, my pastor left me a stitched plaque as a thank you for using our beach cottage. It is perched proudly on a bookcase across from my bed so that it is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see each night: Hope anchors the soul (Hebrews 6:19). I can’t think of a better daily reminder of the confidence we have in Christ.
There’s also an old anchor in my garden which provides another reminder of that truth. The trouble is that by this time each summer, the anchor gets swallowed up by flowers and weeds. Even though it's barely visible, I know it’s there, strong and steadfast whether I can see it or not. It’s the perfect illustration of my spiritual condition as summer draws to a close. Benign neglect would best describe my gardening strategy by August. Sadly, it often describes my spiritual life as well despite waking up to those reminders every day.
It’s definitely time to do some weeding and trimming in my garden and my soul. Just as it is not all weeds that have grown over my yard anchor, there are plenty of ‘flowers’ crowding out God in my life. Not every distraction is necessarily bad. I get sidetracked by plenty of good things. It’s when I allow them to take priority over God that I start drifting. Blessedly, God allows a generous amount of slack on the anchor chain before drawing me back to where I need to be – sometimes gently and sometimes with a definitive jerk, dragging me back to the course He designed uniquely for me.
There are a couple of other reasons I like the anchor visual as a symbol of God’s presence in my life. The most obvious is that an anchor is also cross. A more obscure reason is that the crown of the anchor is at the bottom. Is that not an excellent illustration of Christ’s upside down Kingdom? He sacrificed His Divine crown at the foot of the cross in humble service to us. It’s His extravagant act of love and mercy on which Christians base their hope. Jesus is my ballast, keeping me stable and secure regardless of how stormy life gets.
Given the recent news coverage depicting the enormous losses people have suffered due to fires, storms, Covid, war and 9/11, it might be a good time to evaluate on what or whom you base your hope. As we’ve seen repeatedly, you can lose everything in a flash. There is only one thing you can never lose and that is God’s love and grace. Choosing Christ as your anchor is always a wise choice.
On what do you base your hope?
