Smite Again: Unleashing Your Potential Through Persistence
2 Kings 13:19
And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
Your present-day actions, appetites, and attitudes predict and project with great precision and accuracy what your future will become. There is a direct correlation with who you are today and who you will be tomorrow. This simply tells us that if we want our future to be different, then we must make our present-day reality different. What action steps will you take to change TODAY? What healthy attitudes do you need to develop NOW? What unhealthy attitudes do you need to drop IMMEDIATELY? And what God-honoring cause is it that motivates you more strongly and drives you more passionately than anything else? What “appetite” or craving do you have, that would bring you total direction and satisfaction, knowing that having fulfilled such an appetite, that you have found your purpose for existing? If the truth be known, one is not moved to action who has no passion for that upon which he is attempting to act.
In our text, the prophet Elisha asked the king of Israel to do a strange thing, namely, to smite or hit the ground. Elisha only gave him instructions on WHAT to do, but it was up to him to determine HOW LONG he was willing to do it. This was a micro-cosmic test of appetite which had implications of epic proportions. Now, what has God instructed YOU to do, that you’ve already lost appetite, motivation, passion, or steam in doing? Right now, your “hunger-and-thirst-ometer” is being read, and what you GET is what you GO AFTER. Are you following hard after God, or have you become weary in the wait, allowing your lack of faith and vision to rob you of your best and brightest future? If so, consider this a wakeup call! ARISE, and WAKE OUT OF SLEEP! Smite the ground like you expect God to throw His weight in behind your fist as if to shake the world for the cause of Christ! And when you get tired, smite again…and again….and again, until at last a Heaven-sent tremor shakes and shifts the ground beneath your feet and opens the Heavens above you for release and favor. God responds directly to appetite, but not just any appetite...just those who won’t stop!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
Your present-day actions, appetites, and attitudes predict and project with great precision and accuracy what your future will become. There is a direct correlation with who you are today and who you will be tomorrow. This simply tells us that if we want our future to be different, then we must make our present-day reality different. What action steps will you take to change TODAY? What healthy attitudes do you need to develop NOW? What unhealthy attitudes do you need to drop IMMEDIATELY? And what God-honoring cause is it that motivates you more strongly and drives you more passionately than anything else? What “appetite” or craving do you have, that would bring you total direction and satisfaction, knowing that having fulfilled such an appetite, that you have found your purpose for existing? If the truth be known, one is not moved to action who has no passion for that upon which he is attempting to act.
In our text, the prophet Elisha asked the king of Israel to do a strange thing, namely, to smite or hit the ground. Elisha only gave him instructions on WHAT to do, but it was up to him to determine HOW LONG he was willing to do it. This was a micro-cosmic test of appetite which had implications of epic proportions. Now, what has God instructed YOU to do, that you’ve already lost appetite, motivation, passion, or steam in doing? Right now, your “hunger-and-thirst-ometer” is being read, and what you GET is what you GO AFTER. Are you following hard after God, or have you become weary in the wait, allowing your lack of faith and vision to rob you of your best and brightest future? If so, consider this a wakeup call! ARISE, and WAKE OUT OF SLEEP! Smite the ground like you expect God to throw His weight in behind your fist as if to shake the world for the cause of Christ! And when you get tired, smite again…and again….and again, until at last a Heaven-sent tremor shakes and shifts the ground beneath your feet and opens the Heavens above you for release and favor. God responds directly to appetite, but not just any appetite...just those who won’t stop!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill