(From This Month’s Email Devotion )

God Our Anchor

How’s your soul these days?

If you’re like me, a variety of metaphors could describe how you’re doing. Maybe they change from day to day or even from moment to moment.

We read headlines shouting never-ending crisis. We watch heated conversations explode across social media. We listen as friends share their struggles and fears.

Anxiety seems to be the currency of the day.

As I sat with my own heart this week, I imagined myself on a ship in a storm, tossed around by choppy seas, knocked down by rogue waves, afraid I just might fall overboard. And if I did, would the ocean swallow me up? Would my feet ever find solid ground again?

Societal turmoil and personal pain can make life feel overwhelming.

So what do we do?

Where is God when the structures that provided security come crumbling down around us?

These were the questions I brought to my time with God last Monday. As I settled into our living room, I turned on the gas fireplace, expecting it to help me relax. But each crackling sound set me on edge. Everyday household noises grated on me like a lime against my kitchen zester. The voices of my favorite people distracted and irritated me.

I knew why. It’d been a difficult weekend, and Monday found my heart unsettled. The faith that anchors me felt like it was coming lose. Though I remembered the Scriptures describing God as faithful, doubt had seeped into my storm-tossed soul.

Yet despite the doubts, or maybe because of them, I knew I desperately needed to hear from God. His Spirit led me to Psalm 73. Oh, how I related to Asaph’s cry.

“As for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping and I was almost gone” (verse 2).

Reading on, I joined the psalmist in wondering why evil seems to prevail. Where is God’s justice? When will King Jesus step in and set things right? Will he really be who he says he is? Will he do what he’s promised to do?

I didn’t want to wrestle with these questions. I wished I could push them away, as if ignoring them would make them vanish like a morning mist. But there I was, losing my footing, afraid the waves might win after all.

Yet like Asaph, I found stability in the presence of God (verse 17). Jesus welcomed me—questions and all—without reproach, without condemnation. Just the gentle voice of his Spirit and his Word.

• Telling me it will not always be so.
• Asking me if my hope is rooted in an outcome or in his character.
• Reminding me that no matter what, he is good. He’s always working for the good of his children, even when we cannot see it.

He is our security and stability, the solid rock no storm can ever erode.

He is the anchor of our souls.

When crises hit with hurricane-force winds, when our ship is both sinking and burning at the same time, when we wonder if the dawn will ever come…the faithfulness of God holds us secure.  

 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.

 

Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV

Personal Takeaway: Can you picture the condition of your soul? Put differently, what does the landscape of your heart look like?

Identity Check: Because God is my anchor, I can rest in his faithfulness..

Prayer Prompt: Talk to God about the state of your soul, about your emotions and any questions you’re wrestling with, about the cares that weigh heavy on your heart.

For Further Study: Read Psalm 73, 116:7

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