Don’t Stop!

Don’t stop what? Don’t stop doing what you are supposed to do.

2 Kings 13:14-19 records the story of the last act of Elisha before he died. The king of Israel, Joash, came to Elisha one last time. After Joash, following orders, shot an arrow out the window, Elisha ordered him to beat the other arrows he had left in his hand. Joash beat the arrows on the floor three times. Then he stopped. Big mistake!

We tend to be a bit harsh with Joash in this example. How many of us would have stopped at one? Two? Realistically, how many of us would have beat the arrows 5-6 times, as the prophet said after the fact? Joash did exactly what he was told to do. His mistake was that he assumed he had done enough and stopped. The safe thing would have been to keep beating the arrows on the floor until Elisha told him to stop.

Luke tells the story in the first five verses of chapter 18 of a widow who kept bringing her case before a judge, later called the unjust judge. She got what she needed because she refused to stop asking.

Matthew records the words of Jesus in chapter seven, verse seven, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” 

Does anyone see how often we ask, seek, and knock in this verse? Once? Twice? Five to six times? It’s as if Elisha is speaking again.

The NLT removes any doubt. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). 

How often do you tire of doing what Jesus told you and quitting before the answer comes? How often do you tire of doing what is right in relationships and quitting before the solution unfolds?

Don’t stop asking or seeking or knocking or giving. Don’t stop forgiving or turning the other cheek. Don’t stop doing what is right. 

The answer will come if you don’t stop. So, don’t stop.