Have you gotten stuck before? (ln in lift? Rain? Traffic?) Have you gotten stuck in your life before?

  1. I was stuck in a dilemma in a retrenchment situation.
  2. I was jobless.
  3. I was led to start a church and only 3 members. 

I do not have all the answers but the only I did was to cling on to our dear Lord Jesus. Lets look at the bible on both Elisha and King Joash (2 Kings 13:14 to 20)

Who is king Joash?

The story begins with the divided kingdom where Israel is the north and Judah is in the south. Elisha led in the reign of King Jehu. King Joash is the son of Jehoahaz is also the story we will be talking about.

Roadmap:

  1. Trust in the Lord because our eternity lies in Him
  2. Turn to God because He is faithful and compassionate.
  3. Take care of what is most important because we will never regret it. 

Point 1: Trust in the Lord

2 Kings 13:14 “Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die.” 

Is losing really a LOST? Is losing life, losing courage, lost of our valuables, lost our status/wealth/power, losing our self esteem. Jesus lost His life and through Him we gain eternal life!

Perhaps some of us have lost health, lost our dreams and lost the schools of our choices. Many times, when we lose certain things, it will a good time to hope and trust in God! 

Psalm 42:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, for the help of His countenance.

It is when we are weak, His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. 

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.                -2 Corinthians 5:8 

“O[a] Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?

56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.- 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Yes, we do grieve when we lost our love ones or perhaps even losing our love ones. However, the Bible continues to say that Jesus Christ has conquered death. Crisis will hit us and we can trust God as our eternity is in Him. 

Point 2: Turn to God because He is faithful and compassionate.

2 King 13:10-11

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, [f]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 11 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.

2 King 13:14

Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

King Joash was an evil King in the sight of the Lord. However when he pleaded with Elisha, God is faithful and will help Elisha to defeat his enemies. 

2 King 13:15-17

And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.”

In this instant, Joash did the right thing to turn to God when he sought for Elisha. Repent = turning around, Metanoia (in Greek), change of mind. True repentance is turning away from the ways of the world and going to God. Thinking affects our feelings. It starts with our mind. 

I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.-Romans 12:1-2

Instead of filling our minds with negative thoughts, fill our minds with God’s Word. 

Lets turn to God no matter, do not fear. Those are with us compared to those who are with them.

Point 3: Take care of what is most important because we will never regret it. 

Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. 19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “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 13:18-19

The principles we can learn from this striking of the ground with an arrow:

  1. Whatever we do, do it whole heartedly as unto the Lord (not half-heartedly)
  2. Whatever we do and it it’s the right thing to do, keep doing and do not loose heart.
  3. Whatever we do, let’s be intentional, and not just having good intention.

Especially those who are struggling, “strike the ground” as hard as you can and strive to keep up with your faith in God. Also remember to do what is important like caring for yourself and appreciate others. 

The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. -Proverbs 11:25 (NLT)

Let me share what happened to the 3 situations I was lost and what happened:

  1. About the retrenchment, I offered to be retrenched but in the end, we were all transferred to different departments and positions opened up for us. God provided for 3 of us. (I was supposed to retrench the 2 other pastors as I was their reporting officer)
  2. About the joblessness, I couldn’t find a job for 1 year. God provided for me. Soon, I found a night-time lecturing job which opened up many opportunities for me.
  3. About the new church I started, the Lord brought people around me and blessed us financially. I also continued to have training engagements which provided for my family. The Lord also brought all of you and I thank God for all of you. 

Application: Take time to appreciate the people around you and win souls for eternity.