A Steadfast Anchor

Ever since I got the first phone call from my doctor saying that he was worried about my CT scan results, God has been showing me His nearness through His Word.  This is the way I typically hear from Him, in repeated messages coming from multiple sources.  It might be a sermon, a devotional, a song, a verse someone posts on Facebook; they link together in a way that shows me God is speaking.

I've been keeping a list of the various scriptures that have touched me.  I'll share some of them as the weeks go by, but there is one in particular that has been getting a lot of traffic - Heb. 6:17-20, especially verse 19. Andrea sent me the entire chapter to read last week, "especially the last few verses."  They read:

"So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (19) We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." 

I was wearing a scarf with anchors on it that day.  :)

Two days later, this was in my morning devotional, Jesus Calling: 

"Hope is a golden cord connecting you to heaven.  This cord helps you hold your head up high, even when multiple trials are buffeting you.  I never leave your side, and I never let go of your hand.  But without the cord of hope, your head may slump and your feet may shuffle as you journey uphill with me.  Hope lifts your perspective from your weary feet to the glorious view you can see from the high road.  You are reminded that the road we're traveling together is ultimately a highway to heaven.  When you consider this radiant destination, the roughness or smoothness of the road ahead becomes much less significant.  I am training you to hold in your heart a dual focus.  My continual Presence and the hope of heaven."

Almost the same metaphor that I had just written about in one of my blog posts!  And the scripture reference at the bottom of the entry?  Heb. 6:19.  Three days after that, another devotional with Heb. 6:19 as the reference.

In this passage and these devotional messages, God reminds me that He has made promises to me - that He will never leave me, that His strength is made perfect in my weakness, that I can do all things through Him, that the death of His Son paid the debt I could never pay - and that I can count on these promises, hold them tight, and allow them to hold me steady, though the storm rage around me.  I have hope because my final destination is sure and, because of Jesus, I know my reception there will be joyous.

I think Heb. 6:19 has just become the "signature" verse for this time of my life and diagnosis.  Anchors aweigh!  :)