"In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me, and made me a polished arrow; in His quiver He has hidden me." Isaiah 49:2b
I try to have a quiet time in the morning and in the evening. Some evenings I am too tired to focus but on Tuesday I read from "Streams in the Desert" (one of my all time favorite devotional books). The Scripture above was the focus verse and it just struck me to the core. There were several comments from others listed below the verse but the one that resonated in my heart was from F. B. Meyer: "But do not assume that He has pushed you aside. You are still "in his quiver." He has not thrown you away as something worthless. He is only keeping you nearby till the moment comes when He can send you quickly and confidently on some mission that will bring Him glory. O shadowed, isolated one, remember how closely the quiver is tied to the warrior. It is always within easy reach of his hand and jealously protected."
Whoa! Do ever feel as though God cannot use you? Do you feel as though you do not have a calling? Are you afraid you will mess up something you know the Lord has called you to do? Never fear, precious one! God will not release us from His quiver until we are polished and ready to reflect His glory! What do we have to fear?!?
This impacted me even more because we are at that point in the study of Esther (chapter 4) when she is faced with the news that of all the Jews will be annihilated and Mordecai tells her that she is the one who must intervene before the king. Esther, who has hidden her real name, her real lineage, her real Jewish roots and who hasn't been summoned to the king for 30 days, is being asked to reveal everything (on pain of death) in order to save the Jews (almost 15 million of them) throughout the Persian Empire! Esther had a choice. And, even if she perished, then so be it.
Proverbs 31:10 (NIV) states, "A wife of noble character who can find?..."
Judges 6:12 (NIV) states, "When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'"
'Noble Character' and 'Mighty Warrior' come from the same Hebrew word, 'chayil' which means, valor, strength, might. This means that we do not have to be intimidated by the Proverbs 31 woman any longer! We have what it takes to answer the call God has placed on our lives. The Lord calls us mighty! I pray that in 2009 I will come to believe that with every fiber of my being. I can easily believe it when I see God working in someone else's life but I rarely apply the same principle to my own life. I am missing out and denying God access to my life.
I pray that this touched your heart as it touched mine! We are mighty arrows in God's quiver!
1 comment:
Oh, wow!! When I read the first line, I thought maybe you were going to tell us you were pregnant!! (Sorry, quiver and arrows are on my mind--just received a letter from a friend who has just delivered their third child after 9 years of infertility--she said, "God has answered our prayers and blessed us, and our quiver is full!")
Anyway, this is an excellent post, and I have been pondering on this myself--having been asked the question not once, not twice, but three times within the past several days--exact same question--exact same wording--"What would you do if you knew God was behind you 100% and He would not allow you to fail?"
And the exact same question was asked of me two years ago--and the answer remains the same.
Missions--everyone has a mission--some large and some small, and this may change in our lives. Our mission may not be the same one at all times.
Praying to God for the complete answer as to how to go about what has been placed in my heart.
Honestly, Sandy, the answer just flew out of my pen onto the paper without me even thinking--just the words appearing on the paper. Hmmmmmm.....
Pray with me for guidance, please.
Beth
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