Battle the Dragon and Thorns by Jan Powell

Battle the Dragon and Thorns

by Jan Powell

“In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. In that day, ‘A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day; I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together. Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me’”

(Isaiah 27:1-5, ESV).

I haven’t fought any actual dragons, although I’ve had fierce and painful challenges. We all have. In our conflicts with personal Leviathans and dragons, we’ve endured the punishing pricks of thorns and briars.

I recently cut my arm on the edge of a large aloe plant while battling the army of weeds that had taken up residence among my decorative plants.

When I jerked back from the innocent assault, I heard a whisper from God. “Pay attention. Learn something.”

Blood leaked and spread in a thin sheen over my forearm and headed for the edge of my gardening gloves. I took no immediate action to repair the damage because the cut was superficial. I intended to decimate another section of weed intrusion before quitting for the day. Attention and cleanup could wait.

I often face opposition that occurs as unexpectedly as the prickly edge of the aloe. Known as a healing plant, the aloe surprised me with a wound. I paid it no attention and expected no harm. And that’s I how I get stabbed. Sometimes a person I expect to encourage will strike and inflict damage instead.

Like a responsible gardener who prunes weeds and wild vines, I expected satisfaction and success when tilling my words. Yet reading a friend’s well-received publication stung next to invasive rejections and unresponsiveness that plagued my own inbox.

This hampers my work. I rake my work through excessive, word-by-word criticism and fall into a subconscious decision not to submit or even write. I imagine Leviathans who can’t crush my words if I offer nothing to crush.

So, I reach out to God for help. Only he knows all the wiles of the devil and can alert me to a sneak attack. He can equip me to parry a few pointed verses in a battle cry at my internal assailant. Crippling briers can be conquered so that I can progress. He has called me to write and he will help me. The Lord will sustain me and heal the bleeding when I’m hurt.

Faithful warrior God, open my eyes to the dragons and thorns of the enemy and grant me the victory to keep on writing, seeking your good approval. Amen.

Jan Powell, a graduate of the University of South Florida, helps writers through Writing with You, offering editing, rewriting, and coaching for fiction and non-fiction. Published in The Wordsmith Journal and Splickety, she has written for Inkspirations since the beginning. Her in-depth editing includes poetry, devotionals, memoirs, fantasy, murder mysteries, thrillers, romantic suspense, and flash fiction. She has hosted Tampa Word Weavers for almost two decades and has served in its leadership.