Jahoash and His Arrows

This past week I have been reading in 2 Kings. I often get stumped by things I read and have to stop to look things up so I can better understand. Such was the case when I came to the account of Elisha and King Jehoash in 2 Kings 13. Elisha told the King to get a bow and some arrows. The King did as he was told. Then Elisha told the king to shoot an arrow out of the East window. When the King did this, Elisha said, "The Lord's arrow of victory,the arrow of victory over Aram!....You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek." Then Elisha told the King to again take the arrows. So King Jehoash did as he was told. He was instructed to strike the ground with the arrows. He struck the ground with three arrows and stopped. Elisha became angry 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." This is the part that stumped me. I thought, How was the King supposed to know how many times he should strike the ground with arrows? The King was not a mind reader. How could he know what Elisha expected him to do? If I had been King Jehoash, I would have been extremely frustrated with the prophet for becomeing upset with what I had done. Why did Elisha get upset? So, I started digging a little bit. I wanted to find out why the King had stopped shooting arrows. Had he run out of them? I discovered that quivers hold different ammounts of arrows depending on the size of the quiver. Some hold three and others can hold up to twelve. A common amount of arrows, though, was 5-6. I found this to be quite interesting as Elisha said to the King, "you could have struck the ground five or six times." And then it dawned on me. King Jehoash did not stop becuase he ran out of arrows.....he just stopped. He had done what he had been told to do right? He had struck the ground with some arrows. Good enough right? Maybe I am reading into this too much, but this is what it spoke to me. I could see the King being nonchalant about this thing that Elisha had asked him to do. What was the big deal anyway? Why would it matter how many arrows he used or how many times he struck the ground. He did it three times. That should be good, right? WRONG! He still had arrows left. He still had weapons available to him, at his disposal, to win and claim the victory that God was ready to give to him. But he chose not to use them all. He chose to stop at three. He chose to be content with good enough. That is why Elisha became angry. He became angry, because he knew what God had in store for the King if the King was willing to pursue it, all the way, 100%, using every weapon available to him to claim the victory and defeat the enemy. This spoke very directly into my life as I have been struggling with a heaviness that has been over me for a couple of weeks. It has brought with it depression, tears, some despondancy, doubt, and an overwhelming desire to quit a lot of things. This section of scripture spoke loud and clear to me. Am I going to settle for good enough or am I going to lay claim to the victory that is mine? Am I going to use every weapon available to me to defeat the enemy or am I going to choose to stop halfway through and quit? Am I going to open myself up to the victory and the blessings God has in store for me? I wondered how many times I miss out on God's desire, gifts, and blessings He has in store for me simply because I decide not to take those last few arrows and strike the ground with them? It is a lot easier to settle. It is a lot easier to quit. It is a lot easier to say, "good enough". Elisha had good reason to be angry! He stood before a King who had victory that was already his. All he had to do was claim it. Can you hear Elisha yell at the King? I can! "What did you quit for?! You have more arrows! You have all the weapons you need! You have a God who is waiting to bless you and give you the victory! What are you quitting for!!??" And I can hear that for myself as well. Don't settle, don't quit, the victory is yours! Pick up your weapons and claim the victory that is yours!