AN ARROW AND A TARGET
Aiming for the Heart of God
Luke 6:38: "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together ,and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you meet withal it shall me measured to you again.”
I have a kinship with King David, the Psalmist from the Bible. He was the baby of the family, ignored, disrespected, not expected to amount to much. ( I am also the baby of the family, a late arriver and not always wanted by all except my Mom.)
When the Prophet Samuel came to the house of David’s father Jesse, directed by God and quietly seeking a candidate for King of Israel, he met each of Jesse’s more impressive older sons. Each one was dismissed by Samuel, as they did not pass God’s muster, as God firmly told Samuel, “I look on the heart.” Finally, Samuel asked Jesse, “do you have any other sons?” Jesse, somewhat resistant, answered “yes, one more” and led Samuel to David, the youngest. He provided good care for the flocks of sheep of his father, laboring in the background in a very humble position.
This is where he grew in faith in his Heavenly Papa, who guided David in protecting the sheep from predators like lions and bears. This is where he built up his skill with a slingshot and later used that primal skill to take down the great enemy of Israel, the Philistine giant, Goliath. Practice and fellowship paid off. The wilderness experience set the table for for David's future as King, even though that as well, took many years of further training and difficult experiences.
Much of life is finding an aim and a target and moving towards it. I am no ambitious climber but have roamed through life as an observer to a large degree, focused on the basics of survival. At age 72, I am what I call a "tender" , one who tends or cares for things behind the scenes. I keep watch over the forgotten details of those out in front, who have their places of rushing forward, to do what they are gifted to do. My gift is in the background. I speak more quietly, albeit bluntly at times, but I do not seek the spotlight in any way, shape or form.
I never did learn archery, the bow and arrow. I am not good at shooting billiards and somehow doubt I would thrive at the mathematical precision needed to aim a moving missile in the direction of a "big round thing in the distance." So what am I doing with a bow and arrow, even colloquially speaking? I am…trying…and aiming!
Being an overwhelmingly right-brain, intuitive-empathic-sensitive type, I have just enough logic and plenty of hard-headed Oregon common sense woven in to keep my head above water all these years. I do not think I would excel at shooting an arrow towards a target. Now I am street-smart, extremely so. I hear the profound sigh of the winds, sense deeply the “vibe” of things and listen for the still, small voice of Holy Spirit, as my guide and Comforter.
Why do I need to aim for God's heart?? Doesn't His wonderful Word, from Genesis to Revelation, repeat often that He SO loves the world?? What is my impediment of thinking I must earn His approval, much less His love?? It is like I am over here yelling “Hey God, here I am, look at me…please!”
Isn't that why He sent His Son to this abject mess of Earth, to intercede for us all??Yes, indeed. So why do I try so hard? That is my core trademark, “trying.”
I think this is a very common struggle for those of us who follow God and His Son. Finding our place in this marvelous but arduous journey called "faith", is a slow and plodding affair, day by slow day. There is truly no rushing it, as Papa God takes us down to the primeval level, the Refiner's Fire being, among other things, the deep cleansing of the harms and hurts of the heart that we often drag around with us. It is the difficult removal of the dross and accumulation of “gunk” that Papa God does so well, even when it is not much fun in the process.
I am astonished to realize that, as I nightly "flop on the couch with Papa" in fellowship with Him and with notebook and pen, I see His overwhelming mercy for this fallen and sorrowful world. I struggle so much with guilt and shame and condemnation. What a “maroon” I can be sometimes...but I do learn.
I wonder how King David dealt with being the kid brother to older brothers who did not seem to hold him much in high regard. When Israel was having the standoff with the Philistines and Goliath, David's father sent him to the battle camp to bring food to his brothers. He was not greeted with a cordial spirit by his brothers, who accused him of fomenting trouble.
A short time later, David himself, barely more than a youth, heard the derisive words of Goliath against the God of Israel and walked into battle against what he himself called the "uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies of the living God.” Standing on his years of shepherding alone, God with him all the time, and defending his sheep with the deadly accuracy of his slingshot, he then had a great unexpected victory in killing Goliath. The one rock from David’s sling hit Goliath square on his brow, sinking into his forehead and allowing David to then remove his head, to victory.
Sometimes obscurity hides great and mighty deeds. Just as David labored in the “tulies” of working in very humble work as a lowly shepherd, he gathered the skill with a slingshot as he defended his father’s sheep from bears and lions. That very skill took him into an unexpected battle with Goliath and the rest is history. While David still had years of training and difficulties to deal with before he became King of Israel, he did not stop or give up. His labor paid off…and he resonated with God, as God called him “a man after My own heart.”
Should we not all aim for that? God knows each of us and places us where we are, at any given time, for His wonderful purposes. Hold fast, repent quickly, keep communion with Papa!
Wendy Elizabeth Williams Friday, May 2, 2025
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That quotation from Luke is absolutely true,as I know from my personal experience. Forty years ago as the Approved Secular Way wasn't working for me I gave up everything I had and put my life in God's Hands expecting and accepting that I would starve to death - those who don't work don't eat -a miserable nasty spiteful spirit denying saying probably invented by some Victorian Gradgrind to keep people locked in his factory. But as you read this,I'm still here and I've never gone without a meal in my life,so far at least. God gave me back EVERYTHING DOUBLE,true to his promise,it's in there somewhere. And it's a bit annoying really because it means I always have this aura of well cushioned bourgeois comfort about me,sort of like Hyacinth Bouquet. Even my one tattoo doesn't get me down wid da (not the kids) da dahn and outs,da real people,da authentics. And since they can all sink booze all day and purchase substances they can't be all that bad off. I look wealthy and bourgeois,and thats how I like it but I can't afford to buy a meal in a local greasy spoon cafe,we have plenty, actually they're ok I'm using that term to imply the non fancy basic price kind of daytime diner. But a meal and a dessert plus a coffee,tea or cola that's just over a tenner and the 'poor people' are in there every day so how poor is poor,what is poor,it's an interesting subject. Of course if you live in a hostel or a squat and have no food storage or do but it will be stolen by your co-habitants,or if you have no cooking facilities,or if you don't know how to cook or through incapacity lack the mental or physical ability to cook then a meal at the local cafe/diner makes sense plus you meet up with your friends who are in the same case as you,so it's jolly and friendly too.
Of course God of himself and through Jesus promises two paths,one is the blessings of prosperity and affluence but the other is when the bill comes due,the path to the cross,that's the bit we dont like. I should know. My favourite David story in The Bible is in 6 Samuel 16-23. David dances before The Lord. David has the Ark of the Covenant brought up to his City ,it's now his city,of Jerusalem. He goes to head up the joyous procession and has it stopped halfway to sacrifice a fatted calf. Then he dances before the procession to the sound of trumpets and shouts of joy. He dances before The Lord wildly and uninhibitedly and as he's only wearing a short linen tunic and no underparts he is giving everyone in Jerusalem a mighty good look at The Crown Jewels and really tellin en whose the Daddy. His wife Michal,the daughter of previous King Saul who God didn't like so much because he didn't have Davids sexy mojo,she saw this from a window and thought it was dead common. So when David got home to her she told him off for making a display of himself (which was the whole point of course) to which David responded "you miserable cow you're as bad as your Dad,well you may not think I'm sexy but all those Jerusalem women out there do,so ner." And Michal and David had no children. In fact I saw that she married someone else later. And he went in to marry lots of people. The more the merrier.
Another exceptional article!