#bible study with #jairus #2Kings 13:19 We Should Never Give Up Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.” In this chapter, the prophet Elisha had fallen sick and was about to die. The King of Israel was crying, since he knew he was about to lose the best weapon that Israel had. Elisha asked the King to shoot an arrow out the window. “This is the Lord’s arrow of victory,” Elisha said. After he shot an arrow, Elisha told him to strike the ground with the remaining arrows. Elisha did not tell the king how many times to strike the ground. He stopped at three. Elisha was angry with him not striking the ground five or six times. If he had, he would have completely defeated Syria. But now, he would only strike them three times. Let’s apply this story to our everyday lives. Imagine you are facing a difficulty, like the king faced the Syrian army. You heard the voice of God, just like the king heard the voice of the prophet. When the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something, you quit when you don’t see a result. Why did the king quit before the prophet asked him to stop? For the same reasons we often give up on the things God asks us to do. Of course, we should make sure that God is really calling us to do something before we start it. But if God has initiated something and he has not asked us to stop, we SHOULD NOT STOP. Sometimes I become discouraged when I do not see immediate results in the ministry God has asked me to do. This verse encourages me to NOT STOP what God has asked me to do. If God has not asked me to stop, I SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP!