The Lesson of Joash


Have you ever heard of King Joash? He was a short-lived king of the 10 tribes of ancient Israel who, well, could have had so much more!

In 2 Kings, the prophet Elisha was on his death bed and as one final act, he prophesied to King Joash and told him to take arrows and strike the ground - here's how it plays out:

18 And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”

-2 Kings 13 ESV

He could have had more. God was willing and able to do so much beyond what the King seemed ready to receive. Sure, Joash got something - maybe even much, but, he was limited by the amount he believed and trusted of God - sad right? God and Elisha meant for more but Joash settled for less than best.

I don't want to be like that - hopefully you don't either! As Paul's words in Ephesians reveal:

20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
-Eph 3 NET

Exceeding...abundantly above all...wow! What a word punch! In essence, God will do just as much FOR us as we let Him do IN us!

We may need more arrow-thumping around here! 


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