One of my heroes of the faith, Elisha, has grown old. He was called into the ministry sixty years prior to this time and had served faithfully for twenty years prior the reign of King Jehu of Israel. During the forty-five years that Jehu reigned Elisha had been benched. Can you imagine being called into the ministry, only to find yourself sitting on the sidelines for most of your life? Yet, Elisha preformed more "recorded" miracles than any other prophet in the Old Testament!

Here in chapter 13, (13:14-19) we see Elisha is ill and it's been reported that he is near death, so King Joash goes down to his house to seek his counsel one last time. Joash "wept over his face," i.e., bent over the old prophet as he lay dying and mourned his departure: "My father! My father!" he cried, "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" (2 Kings 13:14).

By this time, Israel had been reduced to a mere fifty horsemen and ten chariots. They were powerless against the Syrian army, which was now backed by Assyria. Joash was well aware of Elisha's reputation and his ability to summon up the hosts of God. With the death of Elisha, Joash believes that the horsemen and chariots of God would also depart and he would be left alone.

Elisha instructs the king to, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.” (13:15-17) Shooting an arrow in the direction of an enemy was an ancient way of declaring war. This was Elisha's way of encouraging Joash to take action, to vigorously prosecute the war against Syria.

By placing his hands on the young king's hand's he assured him that strength of the shot came from the Lord, just as an adult might put his hands over a child's hands and pull a bow too powerful for him to draw and aim the shot for greatest effect.

BUT, it's Elisha last message to Joash that is so important to each of us as well: Elisha said to the king, "Take the (remaining) arrows," and the king took the the arrows from his quiver. Elisha then told him to "Strike the ground (shoot an arrow into the ground)" which he did-"three times and then he stopped."
Elisha was indignant (the word is frequently used in the Old Testament of the holy indignation of God). "You should have struck the ground five or six times (shot all the arrows)," he fumed, "Then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."
And that’s exactly what happened! Though Joash won three battles he lost the war. Aram continued to intimidate Israel until Israel finally made peace with them, entering into a treaty that eventually led to an assault on their own brothers in Judah (2 Kings 15:37ff).

In essence, Elisha was saying, “Don’t quit! Don’t give up while you still possess the weapons for war!”

You and I will probably never be called to go off to do battle with another nation, but I'm certain that each of us are battling our own personal enemy everyday! Peter referred to them as, “the passions of the flesh at war with your soul" (1 Pet. 2:11). It might be an uncontrolled temper, depression, anxiety, an alcohol, drug, or food addiction. Others may battles matters of the heart like, greed, malice, bitterness, unforgiveness, self-centeredness and pride. And if we’re going to win there are several steps we need to take!

Our first step is, to not only know our enemy, but to declare war against him. We must grow determine to never make peace with “the flesh”. To do so is to give in. There can be no neutrality in the Christian life. We will either master sin or we will be mastered by it!

Our second step is to remind ourselves that God's hands are also on our hands. He is a "hands-on" God. God’s Word tells us:
 “I [Jesus] have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

 “To Him Who, by the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].” Eph 3:20 
It is not through our strength that we'll gain the victory, but His power within each of us! To give up would be like Joash who failed to use all he was given and suffered because of it!

I have always been an American history buff. I’m especially fascinated by the wars our country has faced and the men and women who made a difference. One such man is General Ulyssus S. Grant. From all I’ve read, General Grant should have been the last general to win the Civil War. History books portray him as a very insecure man and a “drunkard”, who had not experienced many successes before the Civil War broke out, yet this account speaks volumes:
“After one horrible defeat in battle, in which thousands of his men died because a tactical error General Ulyssus S. Grant had made, the general was seen going into his tent and crying uncontrollably for hours. He had made the error and was solely responsible for the loss of all those men,” not to mention all the family members now impacted. I couldn’t imagine having to live with such knowledge, yet “the next day his men saw him emerge with the determined look of a general, mount his horse and continue on with the campaign.” (Just imagine for a moment how our country would be today if he had quit.)

C.S. Lewis once wrote, "No amount of falls can really undo us, if we keep picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course, be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home…. The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give up."

Simply put, our focus shouldn't be on us, but the One who is working within us, “to accomplish His good purpose”! AND remember: God is faithful, for He will never give up on us!