Anchor of Hope: How To Be Fearless When Trouble Abounds

He cowered in the corner and stared at me with fear in his eyes, refusing to budge.

My scared dog had to be taken to an animal referral center for a recurring health problem we thought might be orthopedic. But as soon as we reached the entrance, he clearly remembered the last time he’d been there.

That time, he’d been suffering severe pain in his shoulders and had to undergo x-rays for a diagnosis. He had been so afraid that he refused to let the staff escort him into the back area until he was sedated.

But this visit, he only had residual discomfort left from another bout of the same soreness in the shoulders. He wasn’t in severe pain and I wasn’t going to leave him for x-rays or an examination alone. All I wanted to do was get him on his feet to walk in the hallway, so the orthopedic veterinarian could observe his movement.

My frightened dog wouldn’t have any part of it. He clung to the bench in the exam room as if it were a life preserver in a stormy sea. His eyes became vacant as he mentally retreated to what behaviorists call his “happy place”—a protective mechanism God gave him to prevent total mental and emotional collapse in times of overwhelming fright.

He didn’t know nothing bad was going to happen to him if he trusted me. I didn’t have any way to convincingly communicate that I would protect him, that I’d keep him safe, that I had only good in store for him. The only prospect he knew might await him was a frightening repeat of pain and emotional trauma.

He had no hope to help him overcome his fear.

My dog’s behavior in this situation may seem like an overreaction and downright ridiculous. After all, he wasn’t in any real danger.

He should have known I could be trusted to have his best interests in mind, no matter what I had to put him through to reach a happier, healthier end.

But we’re guilty of the same thing, aren’t we? In these times when pandemics, violence, and the blindness of evil have turned our world upside down, it’s easy to be overcome by fear and even panic.

It’s too easy to forget we have a much greater reason than my dog to never fear in any situation, even the one we find ourselves in now.

We have hope.

Unlike my dog, we have a reason for hope communicated clearly to us through the Bible, God’s letter to His chosen children.

He promises:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

We know that God will keep this promise because 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. 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” (Hebrews 6:17b-20).

My dog has good reason to doubt me. I can’t preserve him from every evil, I can’t guarantee him life, joy, and peace.

I’m not the one in control of my dog’s circumstances—God is.

We have no reason to doubt God. And the Creator and Sustainer of all things, in this age and for all eternity, gives us another astounding promise:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. – James 1:12

When you are going through your worst moments in life, when nothing but evil assaults you, or when milder fear like anxiety and stress are your constant companions, remember your reasons for hope.

This hope is not a pie-in-the-sky dream that may never come to pass, an unrealistic fairy tale that you believe in anyway.

No, through faith, we have “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis mine).

In contrast to my poor fearful dog, we can stop being afraid by instead holding fast “the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23), and fully able to deliver on every glorious promise He has given His children.

We have sure and certain hope in the promise of forgiveness, salvation, peace, and everlasting joy.

Let this great hope pull you up out of that corner where you’ve been cowering.

Let hope make you stand firm with great courage as you put one foot in front of the other and press on toward the glorious prize that God has promised you.

Don’t let fear make you flounder in the waves of uncertainty and anxiety.

Instead, let hope be the sure and steadfast anchor of your soul.

Do you have a fear that could be calmed through hope in God? Have you experienced a time when your fear disappeared because of hope? Please share!

Photos by Lucas Sankey, Victor Grabarczyk, and Sean O. on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.