Summary: An arrow has to be made. As Christians and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we did not make ourselves. We did not automatically become the arrows of the Almighty God. For us to become His arrows and for Him to make use of us, we have to be totally cut
ARROW OF THE ALMIGHTY
Dr. D. K. Olukoya
Isaiah 49:1-3: “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft, in his quiver hath he hid me. And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
God made Jesus His arrow and wants us who are Christians, to be His arrows. Jesus was an arrow fired from heaven for our salvation. God wants us to be like Him. He is described as the first fruit of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15: 20). We are supposed to be an arrow in the hand of the Lord. Do you want to be an arrow in the hand of the living God?
An arrow has to be made. As Christians and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we did not make ourselves. We did not automatically become the arrows of the Almighty God. For us to become His arrows and for Him to make use of us, we have to be totally cut off from the vanities of life and the world of our forefathers, then we will have a new identity. We had the old identity when we were in the world and it must go. When we have new common identity we individually become arrow.
Peter said to Jesus, “We have laid everything aside and followed you.” This means that they had become arrows. Carnality and worldliness would prevent us from being effective arrows. It is easy to play, as the false christian or church goer but it is another thing to become an arrow of God. When you stop playing as a false christian, and you make up your mind to desist from being a bench warmer in the house of God, then you will become an arrow in the hands of the Almighty. When you do not want to be a spiritual mediocre but you are determined to move up to the mountain top, then you will become an arrow.
A man cried unto God when he noticed that he was never worried when he sees sinners sinning. He noticed that he could not be bothered whether they died or lived. The day he realized that he was not supposed to be like that, he got angry and prayed that God should give him compassion for sinners, that something within him should make him to feel sorry for them. He prayed that same prayer point for seven days. On the seventh day, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, “My son, you are broken now. You can go.” He started preaching in his city and within a week, all the joints where people were taking alcoholic drinks were closed down and people stopped going to film houses. Everybody became interested in God and rushed to the church to hear the word of God. Drunkards abandoned their drunkenness because one man cried to God and became broken. The question is how many people are willing to be broken? It is very easy to say that you want to be broken but when the process starts, will you not grumble or complain?
A sister who used to be very fashionable got born again and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. She started speaking in tongues and prophesying and became a new person. When one of her old friends visited her, she straight away said to her, “You must give your life to Christ.” Her friend asked if she was not coming to their party. She said, “No, I am not.” Her friend told her that she had run mad. She said, “I am not mad; you should give your life to Jesus.” As the children of the devil who do not easily give up, the friend asked for a drink and the sister said, “There is no beer. I broke all the bottles of beer last night. Do you want a soft drink?” Her friend said, “You know that I don’t drink that one,” and walked out.
The sister had become an arrow in the hand of the Almighty God. On the direction of the Holy Spirit, she threw away all her make-ups and now looked as natural as God made her. She eventually turned her city upside-down for Jesus. So, when you say, “I want to be broken,” you are making a very serious statement, which in order to carry out, you have to have an experience that will be completely uncomfortable to your system.
Once the material for an arrow is obtained it has to be shaped. If you want to become an arrow of the Almighty, you must be prepared for certain things to be cut off from your life - those things, which can destroy the arrow. For example, all your worldly old friends must go, since they would have found your lifestyle uncomfortable to associate with. If you say that you are born again and have the fire of God and you are still associating with your worldly friends, I summit to you that you are not serious yet. The day you become serious, those friends will begin to avoid you or change to your style. It is a must. If you call yourself a “communicant” and you have wives and concubines all over the place or you have a demonic timetable for fornication, you are a communicant for hell fire. If you abandon your first wife claiming that she is now too old and not fashionable, and you keep a young lady in an apartment somewhere, you are going to hell fire together with that young lady.