IN 2 kings 13:14-25, King Joash is given an instruction by Elisha to strike the ground with arrows he had in his hand.
The king struck the ground only three times and stopped.
Elisha gets furious with the King for stopping striking the ground at only three.
“You should have struck five or six times; then you should have struck Syria till you had destroyed it. But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
Elisha was basically saying to the king: “Why did you stop?” You see, the King still had arrows, but he decided to stop at three.
Three was not good enough. By stopping, he denied himself total victory over the enemy.
I just want to ask you a question today. “Why did you stop?” Why did you stop doing that good which you were doing?
Why have you stopped pursuing that dream? Why have you stopped dreaming, desiring and talking about your future? You failed once or twice and then stopped. Failure is not final.
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You tried that business once or twice and lost and then stopped. Rome is not built in a day. You were disappointed by those two or three men and you have given up on pursuing your marriage dream.
You have fallen to the traditional lie that all men are the same and are dogs. That is a lie. Do not stop on a lie. Keep shooting the arrows. Why did you stop just after one disappointment by that lady? The better ones are ahead in your pursuit.
You have sat your ‘O’ Levels twice and have stopped because you got a D or U. Why?
You still have potential in you. You can make it. They turned your application down for that post or training and you have stopped searching. No. Keep searching.
You cannot abandon your life because things did not go the way you wanted at first. Do not stop. Look inside of you, You still have so many arrows to shoot. You had a child in your teens and you have sacrificed your dreams on the altar of shame.
You have stopped desiring. You have stopped seeing potential in you and hope in your future. No, you cannot stop. There is life ahead. There is victory ahead.
Why did you stop loving your spouse? See what you have done now.
Why did you stop going to school? See what is happening now. Why did you stop investing in that plan? Why did you stop doing that which you wanted to do? Beloved, life cannot be postponed. Life does not stop at failure or misfortune.
Life is attained by desire and pursuit despite challenges.
What kind of life are you hoping for? What is it that you want to overcome so you get to that life you desire?
You cannot stop now where you are. You need to keep going, dreaming, shooting, praying, praising and networking until you get there.
Failing thrice is not too much failure for your dream.
Victors and overcomers have failed more than you. They have gone through horrific situations than you. Your life does not stop at divorce. Your life does not stop at being a widow or widower. Your life does not stop at being an orphan or being unemployed.
It goes beyond this and you are going to make it. Do not stop. Why did you stop? You should have tried more than this. You should have loved more than this. You should have fought harder than this. You should have pushed, prayed and praised more than this.
You should have gone beyond this point, this hindrance or perceived limitation. Understand this:
Your desired quality of life is beyond the current limitations and distractions. If you are not willing to breakthrough those seemingly very dark and pregnant clouds of impossibility, you will remain where you are.
Beyond the clouds is the rain and the harvest. I have had the privilege to fly often and have observed that the sun still shines brighter beyond the dark clouds. Up there, beyond the dark clouds, the sun is so bright and beautiful. You can choose to remain seeing the dark clouds of life or to break through to the other side.
When you do not stop doing good, you will eventually get a harvest or simply a breakthrough. The challenge with many of our people is we give up and stop.
No matter what and how bad the challenge is, inside of you lie massive tonnes of potential. You see, your victory over your outside world limitations comes from inside of you. The day you will learn and master this, you will overcome every hurdle on your way. Do not stop. Ask yourself this question and then get back to action.
“Why did I stop?”
Kilton Moyo is a pastor, guidance and Counseling Consultant and Author of Responding to personal crisis. Call or WhatsApp on +263 775 337 207 or 712 384 841.
