25
Jan '18
Striking Your Arrows: Part 1 (By Tim H.)
25
Jan '18
On New Year’s Eve Sunday, I spoke about an obscure story in the Old Testament featuring the prophet Elisha and King Joash. The king wanted a blessing from Elisha as he prepared to enter battle. In the story, the king is asked to strike his arrows against the ground and does so – but only three times, which, as he finds out, is the extent to which he will have victory in battle.
The king decided to take the road of being average and only struck the ground three times rather than over and over again, indicating he wanted complete and utter success over his enemy.
In our lives we often take a similar approach. We may ask God to guide us in something, provide for us or someone else, but we only have enough faith to bring it to Him once, and if there is no answer, we give up. The challenge that Sunday was to enter 2018 persistently, seeking God in three areas. In each area, I presented an “arrow” that if we struck the ground with persistence, crying out to God for total and utter victory, could make a difference in our lives and the church.
The first area was Preparing with Persistence. I presented two arrows in this.
- Evaluate Personal Priorities – Who are you living for: God or yourself? Until we align our lives with God’s will, it is possible and highly probable that He will withhold blessings He already has prepared for us. Imagine what it would look like to receive blessings in your life if you committed to aligning your priorities. Imagine what it would look like at PHBC if we aligned our ministry focus, attitudes, and lives with God’s. What blessings might God have already planned for us that we are missing? Psalm 139:23-24 challenges us to ask God to search us and know our hearts and see if we have any issues needing resolution.
- Restoration of Broken Relationships – How can we reach the world with Christ’s love if we have severed relationships? How on earth can we proclaim Christ’s everlasting and unconditional love for man if we hold grudges with others and refuse to reconcile with one another? Is it possible that God is holding people back from discovering PHBC because we have relationship issues that need resolution? Look at Ephesians 4:32, where Paul reminds us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”