Jesus, not me

Striking Arrows With Passion

Jul 04

servantGod Thoughts obedience, relationship, righteousness, trust, worship No Comments

Sometimes when we feel that God has not responded sufficiently, we need to look at ourselves first to see if we have responded sufficiently. This morning I thought about the story of Elisha and Joash when Israel was threatened by Syria. This story really illustrates how God responds and makes promises, and gives us direction, and yet the end result is still due to our response. The fulfillment of that promise is wholly based on us, not God.

Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:

“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)

Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:

“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)

Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained.

We can, and do, limit what God can do in our lives. The above illustrates this clearly. It is also spelled out quite plainly in the Psalms:

“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalms 78:40-41, NKJV)

If you want to release the full victory and blessing of God in your life, do not limit Him. Do not hold back in your worship, in your prayers, in your intercession before the Holy One of Israel! Be obedient, yes, but do not hold back! Let the outward be an expression of the inward, abandon yourself and be passionate for God, be zealous and enthusiastic. Paying lip service to God, doing the prescribed works without love, loyalty, passion will get you somewhere, but it will not get you what you want, or what God wants to give you.

Abandon yourself, lose yourself, in worship. Let holiness and righteousness consume you, set a fire in your heart, to strive for and hunger after the Presence of the Almighty God. Prayer, worship, studying and consuming the Word, losing yourself in love and adoration to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — show Him that He is the first and foremost in your life! Couple that with obedience to His Word, to His commands and direction, then you have a potent mix, a formula for victory and success in whatever it is you are crying out to the Lord for!