The Arrows of Life....

How do you respond when hit with the 'Arrows of Life'?  Do you curl up in a corner and whimper that things are not going your way?  That you are a 'victim' of circumstances?  You and I both know people that way, I'm afraid.  I was actually thinking about a family member (or two) last night that everything that happens, it just pulls them down into that pit and they are miserable, because they are the victim, no matter what the circumstance.  One in particular I was thinking of last night was a family member whose choice of spouse leaves one scratching their heads.  As we have come to know them, we have heard, read, and 'seen' how much of a victim they are of life.  They have either had, or have known someone - usually a relative - who has had every disease imaginable.  If someone has something, they have it.  They always want more material things, never happy with what they have.  This couple have chosen to let the arrows of life pull them down and actually have created quite a few of those arrows, and they like living with the darts hitting them.  After all, they are 'victims' of circumstance.  

Do you know someone like that?  But what if the arrows hit and you choose to rise about it and prove they can't get you down?  What if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and are given months to live.... do you sit with a calendar and mark off the days until that time, waiting for the 'last arrow to hit'?  OR do you choose to jerk that arrow out and say 'not today!' and start planning your life to LIVE.  Do you sit in your chair day after day, wondering what will happen, or will you start LIVING your life?

These are things that I'm thinking about this morning.  I don't want to sit in my house day after day and then die.  I don't want to be isolated from friends and those I love and then move on as if I never existed.  I want to live.  Perhaps that is why I love to plan Christmas gatherings with my children and their families - I want to live LIFE.

NO - please do not be afraid, I have not gotten any dreaded diagnoses.... I am just thinking aloud.  I just refuse to play the victim in ANY circumstance.  I must admit that I have had many arrows shot at me over the years, and sometimes I may sit dazed and confused, but I refuse to stay there.

When struck by an arrow, don't seek more days in your life, but more life in your days.  Forget quantity, pursue quality.   Look beyond your circumstances and you will find incredible perspective.

The Bible talks about some of those arrows - remember Paul?  He had a thorn in his side that three times he asked the Lord to take it away (2 Cor. 12:10)... and when the Lord said no, Paul learned to glory in his weakness.  He didn't let that arrow pull him down in self-pity, but served the Lord with all he had.

What about Joseph?  Remember in Genesis where Joseph's brothers were so jealous of him they threw him into a pit, then pulled him out and SOLD him to sojourners?  He ended up in Egypt as a slave, worked for Potiphar whose wife accused him unjustly, and he was thrown in the dungeon for years?  Joseph steered clear of self-pity and bitterness.  As a matter of fact, he ultimately told his brothers, "God turned into good what you meant for evil."

I could give more examples, but one thing I want you to understand this morning.  Arrows don't change a person's direction.  They merely deepen his or her character; they help the afflicted rediscover certain values before achieving even greater things - if we let them.

I've had several arrows strike me over the years - many unexpected.  The arrows of life may have struck you in places that you thought they never would.  A broken relationship.  Words spoken in unjustified anger that broke you.  A beloved one gets sick.... and you had to watch them die.  Arrows.  They hurt.   

So which arrow has struck you recently?  News of an alleged 'terminal' illness?  Physical pain? Unfair treatment? False accusations? Struggles at home? Somebody throwing rocks? An accident that has left your scarred?  

Don't waste time licking your wounds or wondering why.  Make a decision to do what you were doing even better than ever.  Life's arrows are nothing more than momentary setbacks that help us regroup, renew, and reload - so what are you waiting for?

Make that cake and celebrate today.  Write that book you know is inside you.  Take a drive and look at the beauty of the season changes. Decide today to LIVE and not allow the arrows to strike you down.  As a friend of mine always says, "God's got this!"

Don't seek more days in your life......but more life in your days.  Start living...today!

Blessings!