He said, 'Take the arrows;' and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, 'Strike the ground;' and he struck three times, and stopped. The man of God was angry with him, and said, 'You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it; whereas now you will strike Syria just three times.' 2 Kings 13:18 WEB

Joash had struggled with Syria for years and Israel had been invaded repeatedly. Cities were taken and then retaken. It was a constant struggle. The prophet Elisha told him what to do, but Joash did half as much as Elisha intended. The struggle could have ended then if he would have continued doing what God had instructed him to do.

Many times when struggling with an addiction or bondage, we stop just short of making an end of it. We have it beaten, it is almost dead, we are nearly free, but then we stop and it begins to grow stronger again. We are soon struggling with it once more. Once again, we did not see it completely through to the end. You have to be ruthless, desperate, and relentless to get free of it.

God will help you get free from the things that hold you. He will guide you, but you must work with Him one day at a time. You have to continue to do your part, until the end of it. It is like climbing a slippery hill. When you fall, get back up and take another step forward. If you lay there you will slide right back down to the bottom and have to start over. Get up and take the next step towards freedom.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please renew my energy and clear my mind. Help me to see what could be. Refresh my hope. I want what You want. Your kingdom come, my kingdom go. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Note: The highlighted group of the week is God''s Children Prayer Group, a private group (all are welcome, but only group members see the posts) whose purpose is to pray for the children of this world that are sick or going through a difficulty in which they need to see God show up for them in a big way. All group members are invited to post information about kids going through such difficulties so we can collectively and individually pray for them and be witness to miracles that God does in their lives. ALSO, the Creation Photographers theme of the week "All the Colors of March", based Genesis 9:13. As always, you are free to post anything else that inspires you, too! You can find these or any of our other groups under the groups link on the website menu. Have a blessed day!