In 2 Kings chapter 13, King Joash visits the Prophet Elisha. Joash was king of Israel and reigned for sixteen years from 798 to 782 BC. For decades, the Syrians had oppressed and invaded Israel, weakening them.

Elisha the Prophet was a pain to the Syrians. They would make secret plans to ambush Israel, but Elisha would warn them in advance. It is vital to be connected to the prophetic. It was as if Elisha had a microphone in their house.

(2 Kings 6:8–10 NKJV) Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place." And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there." Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

(2 Kings 6:11–12 NKJV) Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?" And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

So, even though King Joash was not very faithful to the Lord, he had a deep respect for Elisha, who had been a prophet for about sixty years by then. When he came to see Elisha, who was ill, Elisha told Joash to take a bow, open the window facing Syria, and shoot an arrow towards them.

(2 Kings 13:15–17 NKJV) 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."

Then Elisha told him to take the arrows and strike the ground. He may have shot them out of the window and struck the ground or beat the ground with them, but Joash only did it three times and stopped, and Elisha became angry with him.

(2 Kings 13:18–19 NKJV) 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."

Joash stopped short of total deliverance. He did half of what was required. Perhaps he got bored and didn't see the point, but we should stay with the last word given until new instructions come. Perhaps Elisha could have told him how many times to strike, but he didn't, and it happened to Joash according to his faith. Half-hearted, half-committed, double-minded, straddling-the-fence attitudes are never rewarded by the Lord. It is a total commitment.

(James 1:5–8 ESV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

We find that in all types of work, there comes a point of commitment—a line in the sand when you have to decide whether to go forward and deal with the consequences or back away from it because it is not worth it.

Recently, we were helping our daughter change her SUV's fuel pump and had to drop the gas tank when we ran into rusted, stripped bolts that were very difficult to reach. Do you put it back together or get out the air chisel and commit, knowing this is going to be ugly before it gets better? It took us two days...

When Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water with Jesus, knowing that was downright impossible—that was a point of commitment. The opportunity to walk on the water with Jesus would only appear that night and never again. So Peter did the impossible, for nothing is impossible with God.

(Mark 9:23 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

The Lord gave Joash an open window and instructions. This window of opportunity had an expiration, and once that time had passed, it was gone forever. Joash shot the arrows at an unseen target without knowing the outcome, which could only be seen by faith, but he stopped short of fulfilling what God would have given him. He did about half of what was required and he received about half in return.

(Mark 4:8 NKJV) But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for another day. I pray that You help me stay the course and commit to Your plan for me. Help me see beyond the natural and learn to trust You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!