I closed my eyes when he said that because I knew they were true.
During an interview by @jjohnglobal with me on Dream Brave earlier this week, he learned about our delay to Tanzania because of my spine operation and said,
“What comes to mind is this- like an arrow, the Lord pulled you back to send you forward, so you could go further.”
The interview had not yet begun, but I was already holding back tears.
Whether you are a stay-at-home-parent struggling with your current season, someone who feels like you wasted so many years missing God’s purpose, or someone who feels the pain of life put on hold because of illness, setback or life’s “unfair detours,” I want you to know— sometimes, our “least productive” years fraught with tension and paralyzed with immobility, might just be the very time God needs to position and propel you with greater precision into his plans for your life.
When I close my eyes to imagine myself as an arrow being pulled back, I think about the discouragement I feel being drawn away from where I feel I ought to go. But that’s because I don’t yet know the archer’s intent. As I’m pulled back, I’m uncomfortable, tense, frustrated by stagnation….
But now I recall, my years feeling lost and identity-less as a stay-at-home-mum were the most defining ones to finding my anchor in God. The last year spent lying in my armchair recuperating from spine surgery instead of leaving to the mission field ended up bringing me to places all around the world to speak and teach. Every social media and tech detox brings me closer to where I need to be spiritually.
Whether you know it or not, you’re an arrow, friend. Let’s learn to trust our Archer.