His Anchor Holds

We are anchored by God's grace even when darkness and storms surround us.

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain…” (Hebrews 6:19).

Photo by James Qualtrough 🇮🇲 on Unsplash

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Christians are realistic people, because we can be. Through God’s Word, we know the depths of trouble this life brings, and we know the expanse of hope we have in Christ. We don’t need positive platitudes, and we won’t live in denial. That’s why I love the hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” especially this verse.

It doesn’t deny darkness; in fact, it recognizes that sometimes the darkness of sorrow, pain, suffering, evil, or temptation does block our view of God in all His goodness. And when this happens, we look back in the direction where our view is clear—to all the evidences of God’s unchanging grace. We see these in the stories of Scripture. We see these in the testimonies of faithful men and women the world over. We see these in our own lives. And we see these especially and perfectly in the work of Christ on our behalf.

This hymn doesn’t downplay the storms of life; it acknowledges their severity and rage. It recognizes that they will toss and batter us. But it reminds us that they will not wreck us, because in these storms we have an anchor: the love of God, proven in the accomplishments of Christ to save, to hold, and to restore us (Hebrews 6:17–19).

Today, we have the most unfailing, realistic, resilient, and unchanging hope, no matter what sorrows or storms we face.