Drawing Back the Bow

By Tiffany Bleger

My oldest daughter has spent the last year or so slowly learning the sport of archery. Never having shot a bow either, I found myself in the position to learn a completely new skill in order to teach it to my daughter. It has taken a considerable amount of grace and patience on both our parts, but she is learning to enjoy this new sport she has discovered. 

A few months ago, I was reading in Psalms and stumbled across these verses:

I could see in my mind's eye my daughter, grown, releasing arrows into the sky with skill and confidence. Releasing her destiny. When children are ready, they will be released from our homes like arrows from a bow, full of power and strength. They have the capability of flying straight and true to their appointed destiny. 

As I was mulling over this image, Father asked me what it takes to release an arrow properly. He and I discovered together four aspects of an excellent archer: patience, concentration, strength, and tension. All four are required for an arrow to fly to its greatest potential. 

Patience:

It takes time to place an arrow in the string, to line up the target. It takes composure and self-control to wait for the wind to blow in a favorable direction, for your heartbeat and breathing to settle down. An arrow shot out of wildness or agitation will not fly as consistently as one released from calmness. 

Concentration:

A key component of archery is laser-focus on the target. You have to be able to see exactly where you want that arrow to hit, and nothing else. Your arrow follows your eye - if your attention is pulled to anything but your target, that is where your arrow will fly. 

Strength:

It takes tremendous muscle strength to draw the bow back and hold it steady while aiming. Even a child's training bow can weigh 20 pounds. You do not build that strength overnight. It takes consistent repetition to train your muscles to pull the bow back to its optimum tension. And that optimum tension is what gives the arrow its speed. 

Tension:

Oh the tension! The facet of archery most would like to forget is the most essential. You can have the other three aspects, but without the tension, the arrow will not fly. The speed at which the arrow will fly is directly proportional to the amount of tension with which the archer draws back the arrow. Little tension equals little flight. Full tension equals full flight. 

We were in the midst of a difficult situation with one of our daughters when Father taught me this lesson about archery. I found such hope in the realization that all four, including tension, were necessary for my little arrows to fly straight someday. It gave me such courage to continue to persevere with the girls, that the hard work and training would see a reward. 

And then Father stopped me dead in my tracks. 

"My daughter. What of the situation I've placed you in now?" 

The "situation" is a struggle we have been battling in my husband's business for the last five months. Some aspects of this struggle have come about as consequences of our choices. But other aspects have been completely out of our control. And it has been incredibly difficult to get up every morning and continue fighting. To continue hoping and believing the promises in spite of the struggle. 

"My daughter," He said to me, "I have allowed you to remain in this situation. You have dreams and passions that I have given you both. But those dreams will not be realized to their full potential unless you allow Me to draw back the bow. Will you show the patience, concentration, and strength needed to release your arrows? Will you allow Me to extend the tension to its tightest, and release only when I know you're ready? If you are done, if you truly no longer want this, I will allow release. But know that when you make the choice to release, your arrow will not fly as I have calculated. The arrows I've designed for you will fly their best when you allow Me to hold the bow, when you allow My strength to draw back the string, when you allow My patience and concentration to focus on the target, and when you allow the tension I have designed to hold the arrow back until I decide to release the arrow."

And here we find the crux. We each have dreams, arrows we want to see fly. Are we willing to let Him hold the bow? Are we willing to submit to His strength, or are we trying to pull back the draw on our own? Is our concentration solely on Him, or are we allowing distractions to pull us away from our target?  Can we be patient and wait for His timing? And are we willing to feel the tension?