You feel Stretched? How to Be A String in the Bow of the Lord

Erin Davis and I have a lot in common . . . fellow farm girls (she lives on a sheep farm in Missouri), moms of gaggles of glorious kids, and united in our deep love for Jesus and awe of His Word, we could probably talk endlessly and effortlessly for hours. We also both know what it’s like to feel pain in the walls of our chest while holding on to hope with both hands. In her new Bible study, The Story of Joseph: How God Can Redeem Imperfect Families, Erin explores how the gnarled branches of our family trees make space for God to work. It’s a joy to welcome Erin to the farm’s front porch today…

Guest Post by Erin Davis

“This won’t end well, and it won’t take long.”

That’s what the doctor whispered after he told us that my mom had early onset Alzheimer’s.

In the tsunami of grief and fear that followed, I grabbed onto those words and held on for dear life.

I knew we were heading into a dark tunnel; but I was sure it would be a short tunnel, and I put my hope in that. 

Now, several years in, the journey is not ending well — humanly speaking.

My mom, a gifted watercolor artist, devoted Gigi, and woman of deep faith in Jesus is fading from one life to the next slowly, painfully slowly. And I am learning a good, hard lesson. It’s a lesson every follower of Jesus must learn—it’s one God often uses our families to teach us. As I open God’s Word, it’s a lesson I see profoundly displayed in the life of Joseph.

The lesson is this:

I am a string in the bow of the Lord. 

If you know Joseph’s beloved biopic, recorded in the book of Genesis you already know that between the book ends of Joseph’s life we find beauty and betrayal, love and hate, triumph and loss. In many ways, Joseph’s whole life seems to be a set up for this powerful punchline, recorded in Genesis 50:19–20. 

But Joseph said to them, “Do no fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  

You can read Joseph’s story in a few chapters in the Bible. Though we don’t know every detail, we can see his life from beginning to end.

Our lives don’t unfold that way, do they?

Sometimes reconciliation doesn’t come in a few years, or at all. Sometimes the people who threw us in a pit aren’t sorry. Sometimes sons aren’t reunited with their fathers. Often, our families are the reason we ask a very honest question of God: How long, O Lord?

How long until I receive the family I’ve been praying for?How long until God gives relief?How long until my heart is healed?How long until the relationship is restored?How long until my prodigal child comes home?How long until my marriage finds solid footing again?

“He will pull you back exactly as long as He needs to, not one second longer, to hit the target—His target“

God rarely answers our “how long?” questions with answers about time. I’ve never known anyone who knew exactly how many more days, weeks, months, or years they had to wait for God to move. But through His Word and by His character, we know it’s just long enough to hit the target He intends:

Joseph experienced this:

His brothers hated him . . . stretch. He was sold into slavery . . . stretch. He was thrown into prison . . . stretch. Famine came . . . stretch.His father died . . . stretch. 

And all along the way, God relieved the tension and then pulled Joseph taut again. Why? Read Joseph’s words again.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (v. 20).

We could sum it up this way: So God would get the glory. 

Here’s where Joseph’s story and your story intersect: You are a string in the bow of the Lord.

He will pull you back exactly as long as He needs to, not one second longer, to hit the target—His target.

The bull’s-eye our families are meant to hit . . . the bull’s-eye our lives are meant to hit — is His glory. 

The Bible doesn’t paint for us a perfect picture of the human experience.

Joseph’s story is just one of countless examples where our messiness shines a spotlight on our desperate need for the Messiah. 

King David makes another posterchild for this Truth. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he scribbled out his heartache:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

“…he shifts his eyes away from his circumstances and trains himself to look toward the character of God“

If you know David’s writing style, you know there’s always a pivot point where he shifts his eyes away from his circumstances and trains himself to look toward the character of God. No matter how long you’ve been asking how long . . . no matter how stretched you feel . . . no matter what pain points your family faces today . . . you can make the pivot with Him. 

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me. (vv. 5–6)

As I’ve walked the long journey of Alzheimer’s and ached to see God move in other areas of my life and family, I’ve internalized the truth of Psalm 13 as this prayer.

Borrow it as you cling to steadfast love of Jesus today: 

I am a string in the bow of the Lord. 

I am aimed toward His glory alone.

Erin Davis is passionately committed to getting women of all ages to the deep well of God’s Word. She’s the author of more than twenty books and Bible studies, including 7 Feasts, Lies Boys Believe, and Fasting & Feasting. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest. Hear her teach on The Deep Well podcast. 

The Story of Joseph offers the hope of redemption for every family, no matter how broken. In this new 8-week study you’ll dive deep into Joseph’s family tree and discover that even in the face of dysfunction, deceit, and deep pain, God as at work. He has a good plan, and He is building a beautiful family for His glory. Find it at MoodyPublishers.com. 

{Our humble thanks to Moody Publishers for their partnership in today’s devotional.}