Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” 2 Kings 13:18-19 NIV
King Jehoash learned a a tough lesson that day: it takes persistence and tenacity to win a complete victory! Jacob provides us with a good example of this.
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Genesis 32:24-28 NIV
Though their battles were very different, both Jehoash and Jacob wanted to win. The only reason the king was standing before Elisha was because he went to him, weeping, asking him for help. Yet only one of them decided they would do whatever it took to gain the victory. Many times God is willing to help us defeat the enemy in our lives, but we simply fail to go the distance. Like Jehoash we reach out for help, and we cooperate with what we’re initially asked to do, but we stop short of doing everything it takes to end the attack against us.
If that’s you, I have some good news today! Paul tells us in Ephesians 3, that God is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us! If you are a child of God, you have the Spirit of God and the power of God working within you. So what do you need to do to be victorious? Listen to this story Jesus told his disciples.
“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:5b-10 NLT
The man in Jesus’ story wanted the bread bad enough that he was not going to stop knocking until he got it. How about you? What is it that you need? Do you want it bad enough to keep asking for help? Will you, like Jacob, struggle through the pain and hold on as long as it takes to gain the victory you’ve been praying for?