“STRIKE” AND DON’T HOLD BACK
Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.” (2 Kings 13:18-19 NLT)
We need to learn how to develop persistence to achieve our goals.
Here, we see that the king simply stood there after striking the ground three times, but the prophet tells him, in other words, that he should have persisted and his victory would have been bigger.
Allow me to apply the word “strike” as an act of persistence.
In the same way, we sometimes need to persist for those things in life that God has entrusted us with.
Many times we stop persisting because we make mistakes, or because something didn’t turn out right the day before, or because we feel incapable.
There have been Sundays in which I feel bad because I made mistakes in my preaching, or because my pastoral job didn’t turn out good, and the next day I get thoughts of doubt. I question if I am the right man to lead such an influential church, and if I could really be a good pastor, preacher, etc. But God has always reminded me of persistence. It’s almost as if He tells me, “strike!” Keep fighting and try again!
If what we are trying to do is in the perfect will of God, then we should put in the effort and not allow fear or failure to discourage us.
You need to keep “striking’ the earth until God gives you complete success in your family, business, studies, career, or ministry. Persist until you reach complete victory!
Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.” (2 Kings 13:18-19 NLT)
Think about it:
What projects do you need to keep persisting in?
What project had you left halfway done or thrown in the town due to discouragement or fear?
What do you need to do to achieve success in that which God has assigned you to do?
