Today, in my daily Bible reading plan, I read in 2 Kings chapter 13 about King Jehoash, King of Israel, who went down to see the prophet Elisha before Elisha died. Israel was under attack by the nation of Aram. The king was pleading with Elisha for help. Elisha had the king grab a bow, and they opened the window. With Elisha’s hands on the king’s hands, they shot the arrow, and Elisha said it was the arrow of victory and that God would give the king and Israel victory over Syria.
The next part seems a little confusing. Elisha instructs the king to grab some arrows and slam them against the floor. The king does but stops after three smacks. Elisha gets angry and tells him he should have smacked them five or six times, and then God would have allowed Israel to strike Syria and make an end to them. But, as it stands, you will only strike them three times.
The confusing part is why Elisha is angry. Did the king’s heart keep him from smacking the arrows down multiple times? What was special about five and six over just three times?
I think the message is this. When God instructs us to do something, do we stop short of trusting Him to do more than we can imagine? When God instructs us to do something, do we passionately pour ourselves into that thing until we physically can’t do it anymore? When God instructs us to do something, do we enter the task with a heart of overachieving or doing just enough?
Jesus directs us to go make disciples. How passionately and “overboard” will we go to find and make disciples? Jesus told us to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. How over the top is our love for God? Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Are we loving them “five or six times,” or stopping short before they fully understand the love is coming from Jesus in our hearts?
When God instructs us to slam the ground with our arrows, let’s not stop short and miss the greater miracle God wants to perform.