We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
Hebrews 6:19
If you ask people to define what hope is, you’ll get a big variety of gushy and gooey answers that have all the strength of cotton candy. With the kind of hope that’s out there in the world, there’s no certainty to it. It has no strength to lift you us. To get you through the tough times.
People attach this weak kind of weak version of hope on everyone and everything. They hope they’ll be asked to the dance, but don’t do anything to be friendly. They hope to get a new car even though they’re not saving a nickel. They hope their plants will produce a big crop, but they don’t fertilize, weed, or water their garden.
Modern hope is a sort of magical wizarding world of make-believe. With the wave of your wand of hope, you get to do anything that pops in your head. You’re not held back by physics or common sense. You get to create your own world where you make up the rules.
This kind of wet noodle hope comes to us in a lot of very different ways. When someone says, “Keep on keeping on” they’re saying that we just keep on doing what we’re doing without any assurance that things are going to get better. It’s a kind of hope that’s based on nothing more than “Good Vibrations[1]” by the Beach Boys.
But the writer of this letter knows that this kind of soft and drifting hope won’t do anything for the Hebrews who are going through all sorts of persecutions and pain. They need a solid hope that they can depend on through the tough times they’re walking through today. All the upcoming times of persecution that are staring right at them.
I can’t think of anywhere else where hope is thought of as an anchor. Their lives are like small boats at sea during a violent storm. The wind pushes them where they don’t want to go. Their lives are being tossed around in this sea of life, and they have absolutely no control over what’s going on or where they’re headed.
Instead of a weak and wimpy hope, this hope is firm. It’s strong. It’s like an anchor that keeps them steady. It stops their tottering. When the storms of this life come down on them, when they’re faith is tested, they will come out like pure and refined gold[2]
And more than just firm, this hope is secure. This anchor of hope won’t break down. The rope won’t snap when the wind blows. The anchor will hold steady as the waves and wind want to move the boat. The weight of the storm won’t crush this hope.
I don’t know about you, but I just want to say “Wow!” about this kind of hope. This anchor of hope that won’t let the tide pull us out. Even though the storms still come and the boat bounces some, we’re not blown overboard. We’re not thrown down by the crashing waves.
This kind of hope has nothing to do with us somehow steering the boat of our lives with skill. It’s not about us going to the right schools or being from the best neighborhoods. There’s no pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps with this kind of hope. This has absolutely nothing to do with our families or ethnic heritage either.
An anchor for our soul must come from someone who understands our soul. This can only be the one who made us. The one who understands our deepest longings. Someone who understands our hurts and pain. Someone who can empathize with our weakness. Someone who’s been tempted and tried in all the same ways as we have. But with one exception: they never sinned. They never caved into temptation. They never lost it[3].
When it come to a hope that holds, it can only be Jesus. He’s never far away. He’s reaching out to us. He sees and knows what we’re going through. He close enough to hear us when we cry out, “Lord, Save me![4]”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:31
Jesus is our great anchor of hope. He’s firm and secure. He’s never going to be pulled away from us. He’s never going to move from our side. He’s never going to change his mind about loving us. He’s never going to abandon us. He’s never asking, “I wonder where they are?”
It was all this and more that drove Jesus to the cross. You read that right. Jesus was drawn to the cross to pay the price for our sins. There was no other way to bring us back to God. So, he did the unthinkable thing of sacrificing himself on a cross. He gave his life that we could live today and forever. He’s the only anchor that will never fail. He’ll never slip. He’ll never give way. He’ll never give up on us. Now, that’s some sure and secure anchor.
Noodling Questions
How has hope disappointed you in the past? Explain.
What anchors have failed you and why did they hold?
Explain how this life is a slippery slope when it comes to holding us.
[2] Job 23:10
[3] Hebrews 4:15
[4] Matthew 14:30
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