A Select Arrow

Have a blessed Christmas!

For this week of holy expectations, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite excerpts from Grit for the Oyster: 250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers

The eve of my 49th birthday waned melancholy as I lay on my back in bed, staring at the ceiling. I had just received yet another rejection letter from an agent regarding my recently completed book.

It's not that rejection was anything new; I'd collected enough rejection slips during my four years as a professional writer to papar mache a pinata. A big one. Maybe a life-sized rhinoceros. Okay - ten rhinoceroses, six wildebeests, two heifers, and a partridge in a pear tree.

No, rejection per se was not what troubled me. I knew that in the literary game, par for the course is to receive ten rejections to every one acceptance. What bothered me was the nagging suspicion that I'd misheard my calling. That God had said, "fight a crook" or "bite a snook" instead of "write a book."

Glancing down at my opened Bible, my eyes focused on a passage from Isaiah: He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has concealed me, and He has also made me a select arrow; He has hidden me in His quiver.

My heavenly Father was sending me a note of encouragement: He wil personally take on the enemies before me, running interference with His tall, strong stature so that I can find rest and peace in the protective shadow of His cupped hand. I can't think of a safer place to be.

And best of all, I am a select arrow. Not just any arrow - a select arrow. A flint-sharpened, friction-polished, exclusive weapon specially designed to pierce the tough outer shell of God's intended targets and speak God's message to their hearts through the written word.

There is no other arrow like me, no person with the exact same background, experiences, and perspective the Lord has given me. I am the only one that can accomplish the task God has customized for me.

For now, I am concealed. Undistinguished. Unknown. He has hidden me in His quiver until the right time to use me in battle Only at tht specific time will I be most effective for His glory.