In the Hands of the Archer

 

‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ – Romans 8:28

There’s an analogy of the Archer and the arrow, which simply describes our relationship with God and His plans for us. When an Archer has the desire to shoot an arrow, He first identifies the target. When the target is set, the Archer picks the arrow from the quiver and positions it properly until it is nocked with the string. He understands that the entire process has to be done carefully and steadily to hit the target. First, the Archer pulls back the bow, then He carefully aims at the target and finally, when the moment is right, He releases the bow, and the arrow thrusts forward until it hits the target.

In the analogy, God is the Archer and we are the arrow. God has a plan for each one of us that will ultimately bring glory to Him. God designed each one of us with specific needs, skills and gifts that are unique to us. God had already made preparations for each one of us in advance, even before we were born.

Sometimes the enemy may come walking all over your mind with dirty feet, telling you that you were unwanted, that you are a mistake or that God has forgotten about you. Friend, don’t listen to those lies. Here’s God’s truth in Jeremiah 1:5: ‘I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.’ God has a plan and a purpose for you; don’t ever let the enemy deceive you into thinking that God has forgotten about you or that you came as an accident.

When the moment is right and the target is set, God -Archer- goes ahead and pulls us out of the quiver. In the quiver, this is our place of comfort, a place where we’ve grown familiar with, but that’s not our final destiny. In God’s plan, we were never meant to stay in the quiver, our comfort zone, forever. His plans is to thrust us forward into abundance and into an overflow of blessings and favour.

For as long as we stay in the quiver, in a place where we are comfortable, we’ll never find out the amazing plans He had in mind for each one of us. We must be willing to let go of the old and embrace the new as we place our trust in Him. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’

To reach the future, the blessing that God has in mind for us, we all have to go through a process. In the process, that’s when God pulls back the bow. During this phase, somehow things seem to slow down, a lot of oppositions come against us, and in our mind we think: ‘God, what’s happening? Why are all these things coming against me? Where are you, God? Why have you left me all alone in the midst of all this confusion?’

When we get pulled back in the bow, so many times we engage our minds into ‘complain mode’. We complain about everything that’s going on in our lives and at some point, we go ahead and question God’s faithfulness in our lives. When in this position, so many negatives may pop up in your mind telling you not to trust God anymore; so, you go ahead into doubting and stop believing like you used to. We doubt God because our vision of what God is planning has become foggy, and His promises seem too far out.

More often, we tend to think that God has forgotten about us, that He has abandoned us; and yet we forget to see that He’s been holding us gently in his hands. When we think that God has forgotten about us, in an actual sense, it is we who have forgotten what God said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ – Hebrews 13:5.

While in the process of being prepared for greatness, God uses this opportunity to chip off some of our character that are working against us, that is: guilt, negative mindset, hypocrisy, envy, slander, unbelief, anger, pride, jealousy, wrath, and unforgiveness. Once He’s done chipping off what He doesn’t like, He then begins to dress us with humility, faith, gentleness, kindness and generosity.

God will never launch you into your destiny until you have learnt to submit to his plans. When we don’t submit to God’s plan, that’s when we strive to do things on our own without the help of God. We deceive ourselves that we can launch ourselves into God given destiny, and as usual, we miss the target.

God desires that we submit to Him and His plans. He has prepared for us provisions, relationships, connections and ideas. All these and many more, God has already prepared for us. We are constantly reminded of our submission to God’s ways and plans in Job 22:21, ‘Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.’

One thing to remember is that God will never start something that He does not intend to bring to completion. Whatever God has started in your life and the process He takes in preparing you, be confident that He will complete it: ‘And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus’- Philippians 1:6.

We have an added advantage when we cast our anxieties and concerns to God, when we surrender to His plans, even when we don’t see Him working, we can trust knowing that His hands are busy working something good for us. When the moment is right, God’s favour will thrust you forward and do things that you couldn’t do on your own. One touch of God’s favour will do more than a lifetime of labour. Be joyful when you see God pulling back the bow, by this you will know, He’s about to prepare a table for you and anoint you with oil. Be blessed.