ONE MORE ARROW

 

Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”  (1 Kings 22:34)
 

The battle was winding down.  The armies of Israel had been routed.  A lone Syrian soldier looks into his quiver and there a single arrow remains.  What is the point of returning home with it?  He places it to his bow, pulls the string taut, and fires at random.  Like a guided missile, that last arrow finds the smallest of openings in the wicked King Ahab’s armor—and it would be fatal.  The Word of God by His prophets was fulfilled, exactly as uttered by God’s men, Elijah and Micaiah.
 

So, this Lord’s Day, I come into battle for the souls of men.  Who am I, but one solitary soldier of the cross?  Yet, I will do my duty.  There is one more sermon in my quiver which I will launch.  Is it the last one?  I never know.  I only know that there will be a final message someday—and each sermon delivered might be the last arrow.  What shall I do?  I will stand in front of the congregation and fire that arrow.  I will trust God to guide it to the target He has ordained in His sovereignty.
 

Men, let us all do likewise—pulling back the Bible bowstring with all the strength God gives.  We claim the promise of the Lord of Hosts, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”  (Isaiah 55:11) 
 

Did the nameless archer with one more arrow know what he had accomplished that day—that his act would be recorded in Holy Scripture and read countless times across thousands of years?  I doubt it.  So, we may judge that the sermon was launched into the air, but wonder how it might possibly have been effective.  God knows.  More may be accomplished than we are aware.
 

Now, weary warrior, after a week of battles, set that arrow to flight and trust God to bring it to His target.  By God’s grace, next week He will furnish another arrow, and another after that—until the last arrow is sent into the air.  For today, He has given one more arrow.