In The Hands of the Master Archer

My Utmost For His Highest

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). CHAMBERS

As I read those lines, I could hear the creaking of the bow as it is drawn back … further and further until you think it might break ..and then .. the arrow is released to fly toward its mark. It is not so much about the destination, but the fact that you are in the hands of the Creator.  In our Sunday night gathering, one question was … “Why are you in Haiti?”  My response was, because God has given us a passion to serve and a passion for the people of Haiti.”  For our lives, God’s target was Haiti.   Proverbs 31:9 says “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” We find ourselves advocates for a people that we did not know.

I was talking with a Haitian woman yesterday.  She was expressing her frustration over the plight of the ‘poor’ people and their apparent lack of desire to change.  I sensed it was not so much a personal concern for the people, but a desire for the problem to just go away.  Haiti is facing God-sized problems … so is the United States BTW,…. To resolve the problems there needs to be a change of heart.  Only God can do that.  He uses His sons and daughters to be the change agents.  We are the arrows in His quiver.  We have been made for an express purpose … “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

In order to fulfill that purpose, we must maintain our relationship with Jesus.  I told the people gathered at the Sunday night ‘Church on the Beach’ that if they were here and were serving in their own power, they should go home .. because this was no place to be without God.  The same goes for you .. .wherever you are … whatever you are doing … you were not created to live apart from God … and you certainly should not be doing something for God without God. That reminds me of the story about the men who tried to do something they had witnessed in their own strength … in Acts 19:15-17 “And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

Draw your strength from the Vine … rest in the hands of the Master Archer … have confidence that He who began a good work in you with be faithful to complete it.  He is able … more than able … to accomplish what concerns your today ….

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You