Strike The Ground!
In 2 Kings 13:14-19, Elisha tells King Jehoash to strike the ground: Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”
God sees the heart and although the King of Israel did strike the ground as directed, God saw his doubt and unbelief. We are to yield to the actions God calls us to do but we are not to trust in them. The action alone is not the key here. It is in God that we put our trust and all power is in Him. We must rely on the Holy Spirit for insight and revelation. When He speaks something to us, we must obey in faith with anticipation. The scripture says that without faith it is impossible to please God, but thankfully, it also says all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed.
What thing is God asking you to do? Are you just going thorough the motions, like Jehoash, doing what He has asked of you but with the least amount of effort? Think about how Elisha reacted, saying, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” I can image that Jehoash immediately regretted not pounding that arrow into the ground until it broke into a million pieces. But it was too late! Sometimes we hold ourselves back, only because of the conflicted attitude of our heart. We look like we are doing something in faith when the truth is we are questioning, hesitant and fearful of what the outcome might be.
But if you trust God has your best interest in mind, then you need no other assurance to jump in with both feet. Will you join me in taking a big leap of faith this week and choosing to believe God will do the rest? He is able to do more than we can even image… if we trust Him.
Blessings, Tami Gaupp
