[1] "Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother's womb he has spoken my name.
[2] 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.
[3] He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. ”
[4] But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God.”
[5] And now the Lord says---he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength---
[6] he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
[7] This is what the Lord says---the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel---to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
[8] This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, [9] to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. [10] They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. [11] I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. [12] See, they will come from afar---some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. ”
[13] Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."
The verse that grabbed my attention this morning is verse 2, specifically, "He has made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in His quiver." Recently I have been working on sharpening a couple of knives and studying different techniques shown on-line and on Youtube. The knives that are the sharpest, are the ones that have been sharpened to the point that their edges are polished like a mirror. These edges are as sharp as razors, and people could actually shave with them. Suffice it to say that this is not a fast process, but involves the use of finer and finer abrasives, working the blade over with hundreds of strokes at each level, and that ultimately results in the finest of finishes, similar to a mirror. A polished arrow would not only take into account the arrow head, but also the shaft and fletching, making sure that it would fly true, fly farther and fly faster than other arrows, and be razor sharp when it strikes. This is an arrow prepared for a special situation. This is an arrow that has seen much time in the hands of the archer, being lovingly prepared and polished over and over, ready to be used, but held back until the right time.
In "The Hobbit" (The book not the movie) Bard is one of the defenders of lake-town Esgaroth , when the Dragon wakens and flies down to destroy the town. Bard, fires almost all his arrows at the dragon, but saves his black arrow until the last. Here is a quote from the book - “Arrow!” said the bowman. “Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I had you from my father and he from of old. If ever you came from the forges of the true king under the Mountain, go now and speed well!” (The Hobbit, page 205, electronic Kindle Edition) The arrow flies true, once it is released, and buries itself in the breast of the dragon, killing it in one shot and saving all from the further wrath of the dragon.
This is the type of arrow that comes to mind when I read this verse in Isaiah. It is also interesting to note, that this was the arrow that was saved until last. One would normally think that this would be the arrow that is shot first, and it would be if it was target practice, where one wanted to prove with one shot, one's ability. However, in battle his arrow would be saved for that most important and significant shot. It was an arrow prepared for a specific purpose, not to be wasted.
When I read these verses this morning, I felt that the Lord was speaking encouragement to me and to anyone else who feels like the preparation for ministry, for doing the Lord's work, has gone on forever, yet the release into the field of ministry has not yet been realized, or only seen in small bits. I feel like the Lord is saying to not fear, or think that our time has been missed, but rather that the right time has yet to occur. The time of preparation, the time of polishing is for a purpose and we should set our hearts to enjoying the fine honing, and cleaning, sharpening and polishing that the Lord is about in our life, for this speaks of His care and preparation of us. The time of hiddenness will come to an end, and when it does, the will be a time of great acceleration and significant purpose.
The verses from Isaiah go onto some awesome promises, the Lord, saying the preparation was for purpose, and a significant purpose, a bringing of the Lord's light to all the nations, bringing restoration, freedom, healing, compassion, provision and salvation! I guess that is worth the wait!
So today, be encouraged if you have been hidden, but in a time of preparation and polishing! The time for the Lord to release you will come and it will be for a significant purpose!
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