A Polished Arrow
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
Isaiah 49:1-2
I could coast off of the momentum from past seasons of seeking God for the next 10 years…
I was struck with a holy fear as I listened to this seasoned pastor speak. He was internationally known and was the pastor of one of the largest churches in Southern California. I was at a retreat for young Christian leaders and he was giving us a fatherly warning.
He said, The danger is that seeking God creates momentum. But it’s easy to forget where that momentum came from…
He shared about how intensely he had sought God and the miraculous things God had done through their ministry. And he warned us of how easy it can become to simply share the testimonies of what God did—coasting off of past moves of God rather than continuing to live in a move of God.
Several months ago I was spending time with the Lord when I began reading Isaiah 49, which begins with,
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
As I read, I had a revelation: It’s in hiddenness that we are sharpened. Not in use.
In other words, it’s not through being publicly used by God that our lives become increasingly deadly to the enemy. Rather, it’s through hidden intimacy. It’s in the secret place with God that our lives grow deadly to Satan.
Public victories are the result of hidden intimacy.
I love the rush of being used by God. And the scary thing is, it can become addicting. And if we’re not careful, we start pursuing opportunities and pushing open doors God is not leading us to. We can start trying to manufacture what only the Holy Spirit can produce. We begin to rest on our own abilities or manipulate past momentum.
But God knows that an arrow that’s in constant use grows dull. Arrows need re-sharpened or they lose their effectiveness.
It’s not in battle that a sword is resharpened, it’s in the dark, flame-lit hiddenness of the blacksmith’s workshop. Where the metal is reshaped, reformed, and conformed to the Master’s design.
This is also true of us. If we insist on constant public ministry without regularly being reshaped and resharpened by the master in the hidden seasons alone with God, then we will grow dull and ineffective.
When was the last time you lingered long in the presence of the Master? Your heart lovingly longing to be near to Him, to hear Him, and to be shaped by His hand?
Do you feel your fire fading? Your passion growing dull? The anointing waning?
Perhaps it’s time to return to the hidden places—the places that have become far too easy to neglect. The early mornings in the Word of God that no one sees. The extended days and hours of secret prayer and pursuit that no one else knows about.
Because it’s there—in hiddeness—that our lives are shaped into deadly weapons for the kingdom of God.