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them. They require you to act in faith, to live out the principles taught in His Word, and more—to align your life under God’s truth. With the first arrow that Elisha called, “The lord’s arrow of victory,” the promise of vic - tory for king Joash had been established. Yet the king was told to shoot more arrows out the window. We know that at a minimum he had at least six arrows in his quiver be- cause of what Elisha said to him. But the king chose to shoot only three. Maybe he wanted to save his remaining arrows for the upcoming battle. Maybe he didn’t want them damaged, or maybe he didn’t want to have to retrieve them, or lose them altogeth- er. The king was obviously covering himself in keeping back a few of his arrows. Yet for whatever reason, the prophet had given him an instruction, and he had held back. He quit long before he ever should have.
All of us, to one degree or another, can iden- tify with this king. At one time or another we have found ourselves under attack— overwhelmed by circumstances and situ- ations coming against us, with no earthly solution in sight. I have never experienced a time like this in our nation where it seems that so many people feel so helpless and defeated. In a myriad of ways, many of us today are mirroring this king, concerned about the attacks we are facing.
Yet many of us are quitting way too early as well.
They are trying to mix “God’s way” by shooting a few arrows out the window with “their way” by making sure they have enough arrows remaining should they need to figure it out for themselves. These individuals, like the king, are too afraid to empty their quiver in faith. When it comes down to whether or not people will, few do. Just like the king of Israel.
We want a little bit of God.
And a little bit of us.
Just in case.
But God rarely drops His promises into our laps. What God makes legal through His covenantal chesed love, you must make lit- eral. You must bring its reality from heaven to earth. You must usher in what God has promised by participating in the grand dra- ma called: Movement.
Because the king chose to use only part of what he had, he only received part of what had been promised. Don’t let that happen to you. The promises for you in God’s Word are true, and the promises are complete. But rarely do these promises come apart from participation. When you attended high school or college, you were promised a de- gree at the time of your completion of what- ever track you had chosen to study. How- ever, your participation in the process was what ushered in the reality of the promise.
If you buy a toaster and bring it home, the marketing verbiage surrounding that toaster promises to supply you with toasted bread. But you still must plug it in. You still must put the bread in. You still must push it down for it to start toasting. There are things you must do to fully benefit from the promise of the toaster.
The king’s problem was real. His problem was big. I know that whatever you might be facing right now is real as well, and that it is also big. But don’t quit. Don’t throw in the towel. Don’t let the failures of yesterday negate your tomorrows. God can hit a bull’s eye with a crooked stick. When God gives you His perspective on what He would have you do, go ahead. Do it. Don’t merge what He says with what your friends say, or what you hear on the television, what your kids say, or even with what you think.
Your answer is already in your hands. Obey God, completely.
February 2015
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