SPARE NO ARROWS

(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)

Have you ever wondered what you’re really doing with your life? Seriously. I often find my mind wondering to a place of “why’s” and “if only’s”.

I’m assuming that you feel the same way.

Obviously, I know deep down that my heart was made to be with my Savior, and that I was made for Him, but how do I live and do all that I can for the Kingdom here on Earth? It almost seems impossible to actually live for Jesus every single mundane day of my life.

The Lord gave me the answer to my wondering this morning as I was praying about this blog post. The answer is: Spare no arrows!

Now I probably have you wondering, what does “spare no arrows” mean? How in the world does that relate with what I’m doing with my life?

Well, when I say spare no arrows, I think of a really, intense battle where you’re worried if you’re going to run out of arrows when things get desperate.

Maybe I’m an overthinker, but it sounds like a pretty cool illustration to me.

Here is my point. That’s how I feel when I’m living for Jesus and following hard after Him.

I feel like I’m in this really intense battle where I can’t even take one step without getting hit. And when I get hit, I don’t feel like I’m strong enough to fight back.

There are times where you so badly want to just give up, but you know you can’t because the enemy will win.

Francis Chan once said, “I want the joy of knowing that I am doing something with my life, the joy of battle.”

You see, the battle may be hard and discouraging, but the great thing is that you and I were made for battle. It’s in the job description that God gives all of those who believe.

The “arrows” are the most important things a Christian can do. Which is being in God’s Word, praying, sharing the Gospel, and discipleship.

We should never limit ourselves in those things because that’s where the battle is. That’s where things get messy, and people disappoint you, and the enemy wants to overwhelm you.

Jeremiah 51:20 says, “You are my war club, my weapon for battle—with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.”

Do you know why people don’t feel like they are doing anything with their lives? Because they aren’t doing those four things I mentioned above. They are not doing battle for the Lord. They are sparing their arrows and ignoring the job that God has given us.

I don’t know what kind of fighter you are, but I’m not going to spare any of my arrows. I’m not going to quit fighting just because it’s hard.

Listen, do you know how much the enemy hates to see you studying Scripture? You know he absolutely despises when you say no to a worldly thing in order to do something greater and more meaningful for eternity. Right?

That’s war. It’s not sparing your arrows and wasting time in the midst of battle when you already know what your enemy hates the most. We could be victorious Church if we would only invest all of who we are into the battle.

There’s joy in that.

I’m asking you today if you’ve just “bought in” to the battle or if you’re completely “sold out”? Because if you’ve just “bought in”, you’re really not fighting. You’re standing on the sideline sparing your arrows, wondering how much it will cost you.

You are actually just in the way of those actually trying to fight.

Amy Carmichael once said, “Satan is so much more in earnest than we are – he buys up the opportunity while we are wondering how much it will cost.”  

Don’t wonder what it’s going to cost you, because it’s going to cost you everything you are, and everything you have, to be in the battle for the Lord.

But it’s worth it. Failure is not an option. Don’t spare your arrows. They are more powerful than you might think.

“Together they will be like warriors in battle trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them…”   {Zechariah 10:5}

SO WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

= Do you know the joy of battle?

= Have you “bought in” to this Jesus thing or are you actually “sold out”?

= What are you going to do differently?