In about 4 minutes, it will be Monday. Have you ever wondered why weekends are so short? I am honestly looking for the answer to this question. On weekdays, you can count 5 days and it’ll still be 11am on Tuesday. On weekends however, two blinks, and you’re ironing your clothes for the week. Oh well, its Sunday evening, and you know what that means. Your favorite blog comes your way, serving you hot food from the king’s delight! 

There was a mighty prophet in Israel called Elisha. He was an advisor to kings, not only in Israel, but in other nations as well. The story I’m about to share with us can be found in 2 Kings 13:14-19. 

As this man of God lay on his sickbed nearing the end of his life, the king of Israel went to see him. Back in the day, before these kings would go to battle, they would consult the prophet and he would give them the strategy to win the war. So the king was sad that his prophetic general was going to be with the Lord. He was probably worried about how they would defeat the Arameans who were a thorn in his side.  

Elisha could tell the frustrations of the king. So he instructed the king to get a bow and some arrows and shoot the arrows into the ground. Each strike was to signify a victory over the Arameans in battle. 

The king struck three arrows into the ground, and he stopped. Prophet Elisha got furious! “Why did you stop?!” he asked. “Your victory over your enemies will be incomplete!” 

This story is quite funny to me. I think about the king, who must have started shooting the arrows into the ground with so much passion because his thoughts were consumed with the threats of the Aramean armies. But on the third strike, he must have thought to himself,  

“What the heck am I doing?” 

He must have thought he looked silly to his bodyguards. “Surely they think I’m a superstitious jerk”, he thought to himself. Besides, who ever won a war by shooting arrows into the ground? What a waste of resources! 

Well, scripture doesn’t tell us king Jehoash said all this, but I’m pretty sure he said all these things in his head. I’m sure of this because so many times, I have found myself doing things that did not yield any immediate results. I started thinking of people’s perceptions of me. In no time, I stop doing altogether what in the beginning I knew in my heart was going to bring a lot of positive change. 

If there is any lesson from this bible story, it is this: Don’t give up too easily!” 

No one may appreciate your process, but keep striking the ground. It may look like a total waste, but keep striking the ground. Your arms may be sore from holding the bow and arrows too long but keep striking. And best of all, when people come to discourage you, remember who told you to go down that path in the first place and keep striking. 

Maybe you started a project some time ago and gave up along the way because you were discouraged into believing it won’t amount to much. Maybe they were your resolutions for 2021. Maybe it was your Bible-in-One-Year bible reading plan, but when you got to Leviticus, you said, “Chai, na wa oo”. Please, it’s time to pick up the bow and arrows and keep striking. You keep praying, but don’t see any results? Keep striking! You’ve tried to overcome the addiction, but nothing seems to work? Keep striking!!! 

I pray that as we enter the new month, you throw off any blanket of discouragement, and attack this new month with fresh zeal. You can do this, because God has got you!