The Bow : Hard Seasons Make You Stronger - Aligned Week 3

Before an arrow ever takes flight, the bow must bend.

It’s built with tension in mind—a perfect balance of strength and flexibility.

Without that tension, the arrow won’t have power. Without that strength, the bow will break. The bow’s ability to withstand the stretch determines how far the arrow will go.

We often pray for purpose to unfold easily. We want clarity without pressure and direction without discomfort, but purpose isn’t formed in ease; it’s forged in tension. Like the bow, we are shaped by resistance. The moments that stretch us are often the very ones that prepare us for what God intends to release through us.

🌿 The Strength of Surrender

There was a season in my life when I felt stretched to the breaking point.

Walking through an abusive marriage riddled with infidelity and betrayal, then facing the long legal process of divorce and custody, was a kind of tension I had no interest in experiencing. The emotional strain of protecting my daughters while trying to rebuild our lives left me feeling like the bow pulled back too far...one wrong move, and I would snap.

Yet, in that place of breaking, God began building something unshakable.

Years later, when I was diagnosed with cancer, I felt that same stretch again. It was different, but familiar. My body was tired, my spirit tested, and my faith deepened in ways I couldn’t explain. What I thought would destroy me became the very process that drew me closer to the One who steadies the bow, and the person behind the bow (week 1).

Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s giving over.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

The tension I felt in those seasons wasn’t a sign of failure. It was evidence that God was shaping me for something greater and teaching me to yield to His strength rather than rely on my own.

Like the bow, I learned that purpose isn’t found in staying rigid. It’s found in trusting the stretch.

🎯 The Process of Being Shaped

If the bow could speak, it might resist being bent. It might cry out, “Why must I be pulled so far?” But the archer knows, the bend is what gives it power.

That’s what I discovered through pain, healing, and rebuilding. Every pull, test, and waiting season was preparing me to carry purpose with greater strength and compassion.

Maybe you’ve been feeling stretched too. Maybe you’ve been asking, “Why does this feel so hard?” or “Why do I keep being pulled in ways I didn’t expect?”

What if the tension isn’t working against you, but working for you? What if it’s the very thing preparing you to carry purpose with power and precision?

The bow isn’t weakened by bending. It’s empowered by it.

You were never meant to stay unchanged. You were meant to be shaped and yielded in God’s hands so your life can release something powerful, something that reaches farther than you ever could on your own.

🌿 Reflection for the Week

Ask yourself:
➡️ Where is God inviting me to bend instead of resist?
➡️ How might this stretch be strengthening my faith instead of breaking it?
➡️ What would change if I began to see tension as preparation instead of pressure?

The bow doesn’t fight the pull. It trusts the hands that hold it. Strength and peace are found in surrender, not control.

🙏 Say this prayer of alignment with me

“God, thank You for the strength You’ve built in me through every season of tension.
When I feel stretched beyond my limit, remind me that You’re preparing me for purpose.
Teach me to surrender to Your hands with faith instead of fear.
Help me see the beauty in the stretch, the purpose in the pull, and the strength in surrender.”

Next week, we’ll explore The String. We will discuss the connection between strength and release, and how God becomes the power that carries us forward.

Until then, breathe, trust the stretch, and remember:
You were made to bend without breaking.

With love,
Andrea John
🌿 Uncover identity. Discover purpose. Step into destiny.