I have shared before how years ago I saw an incredibly wonderful counselor, Bob. In a nutshell, Bob was brilliant. One day he told me, “I hope you know I’m here to throw you some rope to help you get out of the mud. I’m not here to throw an anchor to keep you stuck in it." I did know this. And we discussed this theory of how our bodies respond to stress and how we have the ability to not stay stuck in the mud, forever.
One morning a couple of weeks ago, I woke up just before 2:00 am and could not go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for another two hours and finally got up just before 4:00. By 5:30 I was on my second cup of coffee, wanting to go back to sleep, but for all my trying, could not. Thus the second cup of coffee.
I was stuck, again, and needed to shift my focus.
I have struggled with nightmares for years. I’m not talking about two or three years, I’m talking closer to (more than) twenty years. It is the same nightmare, basically, but different variations of it.
When I was in college, I took two semesters of psychology, so I always felt like I was able to understand people and tried to interpret dreams. (Insert sarcastic tone here). Understanding people is still not something I have mastered. As a matter of fact, I am not even sure I understand myself.
Bob and I talked about the nightmares I have, and what all they might represent. Different stages in my life, these darned things will pop back up out of nowhere, and I just can’t seem to shake them off the way I would like to shake them and dismiss them. When I woke up in the middle of the night in 2016 and had, “Hebrews 6:19, Hebrews 6:19, Hebrews 6:19,” running through my mind, I had to get up, turn on the light and open my Bible.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” - Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
I have taken so many of Bob’s wise words and counsel to heart over the years, and love flipping through my Bible and finding little nuggets of wisdom he shared with me. I usually jotted them down the next morning during my quiet time, so I would remember how to grow in my faith from what was happening.
Bob used an emotional rope to help pull me out of the heartbreaking pit where I found myself, but Jesus keeps my soul anchored in His peace.
Seems almost contradictory, I know, when I use Bob’s reference to a rope, not an anchor. But I also see how the enemy wants us stuck in our pits, where Jesus wants us anchored in His peace. We have the gift of not having to understand why when we understand Who.
Bob went home to Jesus several years ago, and I miss him so often. I think he would tell me, "You're getting stuck again. But let's pull you out of there."
You see, Bob taught me how to use the rope to climb out of the pits, and he reminded me where to anchor myself, too.
Jesus.