Strike Again!

One of the most interesting Old Testament stories for me has to be King Joash’s encounter with the Prophet Elisha. The story unfortunately ends with the chilling words, “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.” (2 Kings 13:19). Joash, the king of Israel probably had a fond relationship with Prophet Elisha and news of his illness negatively affected him. He received a strange set of instructions as he went to see God’s servant, and I bow my head because I probably would have made the same mistake he did!

Joash represents many of us: We who seek the face of God daily, remaining hopeful in tribulation and joyful in our wait. We hear God’s instructions and often wonder, “Now what does that mean?” or “How on earth does that work?”. Since we know well at this point that God’s thoughts are above ours and that God sees beyond what we can, we begin the journey. We strike once, twice, thrice…And we stop.

“I think I have put in enough effort in fasting and prayer. Certainly, I can’t pray this intensely  forever.”

“The Lord has surely seen my labour in contending for my bloodline. His grace now is enough”

“If I continue pushing this hard in spiritual things, I will look creepy. Let me seek confirmation on whether I should continue.”

“At least I have obeyed God, He will understand the effort I have put in.”

And so on… 

These are examples of the thoughts that arise when we decide to apply pressure in the things of God and especially in spiritual warfare. We begin to listen to what those around us are saying. We tune in to people who love us, caring more about what they have to say concerning our season rather than what the Spirit has burdened us to carry. We encounter worsening circumstances or perceive worse attacks after we intensify our spiritual effort, and in a bid to preserve ourselves, we slow down and shelve our battle armour because we feel that it has gotten too hard. We prematurely let go of our breakthroughs to save face, please others, or comfort our flesh. Here is where we lose to the enemy.

I would like to reassure you that remaining persistent is well within scripture. It is not just written, it is demanded. Luke 24:49 NKJV: “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (emphasis own)

Tarry: verb

1. To linger in expectation: wait

2. To abide or stay in or at a place

The disciples received a promise from Jesus that the Holy Spirit would be sent to them. He gave them the instruction to wait and even the place where they would do the waiting. But one thing He did not give them was the when. Yet the disciples needed to wait upon this Helper because that was the only way they would receive power to move forward in the assignment Jesus gave them. 

Think about them for a minute. A group of zealous people for Christ who have left family and belongings behind, who have followed Christ until the very end and have no backup plan. All waiting for the day of the appointment, not knowing whether it will be days or months, only resting on the words of their Master. I would like you to picture yourself now, trusting in God for the fulfilment of His word, yet seeing nothing. Hoping for things to change for the better, yet experiencing worse things. The encouragement of the Lord is to keep striking the ground. Keep resisting the enemy. He will flee! (James 4:7).

Many who receive the Lord get dismayed when incessant trials and testing come, perhaps because they think that, since the Blood of Jesus has been shed already, there is no more contention against darkness. Apostle Paul shows us that even he, being a servant of Christ and one who walked the same path as Jesus, had to contend against resistance. 1 Corinthians 16:9 NKJV: “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” He did great exploits for Jesus, but he still needed to contend for territories. He had to wage war for souls and for the gospel to be spread. Nehemiah in the Old Testament shows us that even when God has called us for a task, we may still encounter repeated attacks and attempts on our lives, but our stance should be the same: I will not back down! We see him refusing repeated calls by his enemies to come down from building the wall around Jerusalem. He sensed that they had an evil plan against him, so in Nehemiah 6:3 NKJV, he says, “... I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

What is your response when the trials keep coming as you wage warfare for your lineage?

How do you posture yourself when there seems to be no sign of reprieve as you keep trusting the Lord?

What is your answer when you get mocked and people ask, “Where is your God?”

Do you cower, do you get angry and give up on the course and blame God?

Scripture affirms to us today that one strategy of sure victory is to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10 NKJV). This means relying on the present (and inexhaustible) strength of our Lord as we contend and depending on Him for refreshing. This looks like worshipping when it looks illogical, praying when it seems inconvenient, fasting when it seems futile and obeying when it feels impossible. In the kingdom of light, dependence on God will never put you to shame. The righteous are never forsaken, and their children never beg for bread.

The waiting disciples got the reward of their wait. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, came and endowed them with power. Their first meeting under the influence of the Holy Spirit led to the conversion of about 3,000 people, which was one of the confirmations that indeed help had come and ministry would now begin powerfully. Apostle Paul, despite the adversaries against him, rose above them with God’s help and finished the race strong. Nehemiah finished the wall, not losing any of his workers to death or disease despite the threats they received. 

What about you? Will you allow the Holy Spirit to help you contend until your breakthrough comes?

Insist!

With Love,

Jackie Ngigi.