God's arrows of victory

Although my only experiences with bows and arrows were from playing cowboys and Indians with our cap guns and string-strung sticks, I find the imagery to be a powerful spiritual metaphor. 

 I can almost see the arrows of prayer and purpose, and even attack, punching through the spiritual realm into the physical.  (Want to read how that imagery helped me to publish a book?)

According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, this thinking is similar to the ancients’ prescientific worldview which recognized an unseen reality paralleling the visible one; a reality in which “a just person participated in spiritual warfare fought by greater powers with unseen weapons whose results spilled over into the visible universe.”*

(I didn’t think I had an ancient’s prescientific worldview—aren’t we fighting against unseen powers with spiritual weaponry whose results spill into our visible realm? Help me out here if you can.)

Anyway.

The Bible is rich with references to the arrow(s) of God, arrows of good and evil, and arrows of speech. According to the ancients, because of its swiftness and long range accuracy, the “bow and arrow was not only a weapon to be feared in the visible world but also the prime symbol of justice meted out.”—Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

Yes, the devil has his “fiery darts,” but God’s arrows are the ones to be feared. They always hit their mark. Always find the chink in the armor. “Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under Thee; Thine arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies”.—Psalm 45:5

And always win the victory, as Elisha told the king of Israel when he commanded him to open the window to the east and shoot “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria!”—2 Kings 13:17

But sometimes God’s arrows seem pointed at us, as Jeremiah laments:  “He has bent His bow and set me as the target for the arrow. He has made the arrows of His quiver to enter my inward parts . . . .I have forgotten happiness. . . .My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD.”—Lamentations 3:12-18

That is about as depressed a state a person can sink to.

On those days when it feels like you hardly have enough strength to shoot a rubber-tipped toy arrow— Shoot! Shoot God’s arrow of victory at however tiny a piece of Truth you can recall and watch it stick—“The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail” Then shoot again: “Great is Thy faithfulness.” And again: (Oh, go for the whole chapter!—Lamentations 3: 21).

Remarkably, even though Jeremiah thinks he has lost hope, he musters up a sliver of truth. And then another. And it is enough to open the gates of hope and help him climb out of despair.

Thing is, God knows those times when we can’t even shoot our toy arrows, and arms others to shoot for us—to be “bows in the hands of God.”—Isaiah 49:2—which is what I set out to examine today, but I think I will think about that tomorrow.

For now, may you be encouraged that it is not our own bows that will save us (Psalm 44:6) but our being a bow in the hands of a God who cannot fail. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, Therefore I have hope in Him."--Lamentations 3:24

Blessings this midweek of January 2014,
Marcia

*Love this ambitious work: Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III

"I shot an arrow in the air"

                 “I shot an arrow in the air
                  It fell to earth, I knew not where. . .

                  Long, long afterward, in an oak
                        I found the arrow, still unbroke

As I contemplated the curious place I am in right now, the lines from the poem, “The Arrow and the Song”, came floating up from the depths of my high school love affair with the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

The words capture a theme I have seen in the lives of my heroes and have clung to in my own life: When we release something, whether it be an act of service, a book we’ve written, or ultimately—our lives—it belongs to God.

Shortly, I will take down the picture of my book and it will also disappear from Amazon because an arrow I shot in the air landed in a most unexpected place. I know everyone’s’ story is different, but I hope this recap of my particular journey will be an inspiration and encouragement not only to my writer friends longing for publication, but for anyone wondering if their efforts are bearing fruit anywhere.

I am not particularly given to visions, but I believe the impressions I had for this project were God-given as means of encouragement. (I know I’ve told parts before, just in case you’re thinking she’s getting daffy.)

During a women’s conference last fall, the young leader suggested we all take a moment to imagine what we would be wearing at the banquet with the Lord. Not being a woman of fashion or imagination, I moaned about doing her exercise. She sat next to me. “I can see you what you’re wearing,” she said. It’s a sleeveless gown, but it’s your arms I notice. They’re strong arms.”

“Yes. Woman warrior,” I said, raising my arms as if launching an arrow from my bow.

Sometime after that, I saw the Women of Faith/WestBow press writing contest. Although my book had won several prizes at conferences, it had little chance of traditional publication since it was considered memoir. Ironically, the man who is now my agent even turned it down!  Still, I resisted opportunities to self-publish, not knowing why, except it wasn’t time. But this contest felt exactly right.

I submitted my manuscript. Then, inexplicably, I was overcome with a spirit of fear, failure, insecurity, and self-doubt—I even questioned my own faith. In the midst of this troubling time, I came upon Psalm 78:9,11: “The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned back in the day of battle. They forgot his deeds and the miracles He had shown them.”

I knew the Lord was telling me He had equipped me, and that if I turned back it was because of fear and worse--refusal to trust Him--not because I lacked what was needed.

Being equipped with arrows became a strong metaphor, even in my prayer life. I read that before Elisha died, he told fretful King Joash to take up his bow, open the window, and shoot, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Syria,” (2 Kings 14-17), so whenever I felt that myself or someone I was praying for was being attacked, I opened my arsenal of faith and shot an arrow of victory into the heart of the enemy.

After I found out I was a finalist in the writing contest, I spent a lot of time speculating on my chances. One day, in church, my thoughts drifted to my book instead of God’s Book.  Suddenly, I saw the pages of my book fluttering away (like the file download icon). At first I worried they were being scattered, but then I knew with the knowing that captures your whole being and not just your mind, that I was giving them over to God.

And I would wait and see what He would do.

I have to admit a bit of density here. During this whole process, I never connected my arrow imagery with the publishing company behind the contest: WestBow. In fact, it was days after I saw I had won that WestBow’s logo hit me: an archer.

Isn’t the Lord grand! He gave his woman warrior an archer press!

But as if that weren’t enough, little did I suspect other people were noticing. The people at Thomas Nelson, the traditional publisher I typically wouldn’t have stood a chance with. Not only did they notice, but they bought.

What began as a paper in a writing workshop, became a contest winner, self-publication, and soon to be—traditionally published title.

We never know what He will do with the things we release to Him. They’re His.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8754277.htm

Thank you to the fine staff at WestBow who did a great job with my story and cover picture I sent with a hundred sticky notes attached!  Meanwhile Call of a Coward will disappear in its present form until it comes out in 2012 with Thomas Nelson.