|
God's arrows!
(from "The Heart Wounded" by John MacDuff)
"For the Almighty has struck me down with His
arrows. He has sent His poisoned arrows
deep
within my spirit. All God's terrors are arrayed
against me." Job 6:4
There is the blanched arrow of sickness; the
rusted arrow of poverty; the lacerating arrow
of bereavement, stained and saturated with
tears, and feathered from our own bosoms.
Yet, blessed be God, these are often arrows
which wound only to heal; or rather, which,
from the wounds they create, send the bleeding,
panting, thirsting soul to seek the waters of
comfort in God Himself.
Suffering one! be thankful for your wounds!
But for these arrows you might have been, at
this moment, sleeping on the mountain heights
of self righteousness, or worldliness, or sin,
with no thought of your soul.
Affliction, worldly calamity, and bereavement
are sent to drive you nearer to your God.
Has an arrow from the quiver of God wounded
your heart? Are you, in your agony, seeking rest
and finding none? Do you have a gnawing feeling
of dissatisfaction with all 'created things', and an
undefined longing for a solace they cannot give?
Yes for your gaping, bleeding wound there
is "balm in Gilead, and a Physician there."
Thirsty, faint, forlorn, wounded, weary one; go to
Jesus! He is all that you need, all that you require,
in sickness and health, in joy and in sorrow, in life
and in death, in time and through eternity!
"He drew His bow and made me the target for
His arrows. He pierced my heart with
arrows
from His quiver." Lament. 3:12-13
|