Do it again.
(AN EXCERPT FROM DR. THOMPSON’S GROUNDBREAKING BOOK)
In 2 Kings 13, we learn about a king of Israel named Joash. Before and during his reign, Israel was repeatedly plagued by the people of Aram (Syria). God allowed the Arameans to oppress the Israelites because they strayed from Him and followed after idols. Frequently, Israel’s leaders would respond to Aramean oppression by entreating the favor of God, and the Lord would rescue His people by sending a deliverer. Israel would enjoy freedom for a short time but would eventually fall back into the cycle of idolatry that the nation had fostered over many generations. This same cycle was active when Joash was king, so the Arameans continued to oppress Israel during his reign. By the time we see their interaction in 2 Kings 13, it is clear that the Israelites need more than a breakthrough. They need to break a cycle.
When King Joash comes to the prophet Elisha, Israel is still being afflicted. Although Elisha is near death, he rallies strength and instructs Joash to retrieve a bow and arrows. Joash obeys and brings the items to the prophet, and then, for a moment, Elisha allows his hands to rest upon those of the king. Soon he commands Joash to open a window and shoot one of the arrows. When Joash releases the arrow, Elisha proclaims, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.” The fact that Elisha says “until you have destroyed them” suggests that this victory will not be a one-time endeavor. Joash could be sure that God would cause him to triumph, but like many of us, he may not expect that the victory will come in increments. Many times, when we receive a promise from God, we believe it will manifest all of a sudden and all at once, but most of the time, God brings fulfillment in stages and victory in phases. (Just think of how long the children of Israel worked to possess the Promised Land.) When victory comes in phases, we must continue to invest the effort it takes to overcome by being consistently obedient.
We see the importance of consistency when Elisha declares the Lord’s arrow of victory over the Arameans (over cycles of bondage). After Joash releases the arrow of victory, Elisha tells him to take some arrows and strike the ground. Joash strikes the ground three times, and Elisha becomes angry at his lack of consistency. He says, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.” In other words, Joash will gain a victory for every time he struck the ground, but he will not experience the fullness of triumph because his obedience was incomplete. Joash struck the ground like Elisha said, but he did not strike it enough times to break it. God wanted to use him to undo the cycles of idolatry and oppression that had kept the Israelites in bondage, so generations to come would not have to live in captivity. But since Joash did not keep obeying, he would only affect the cycle that he was supposed to annihilate.
Sometimes we don’t experience full-blown manifestation in an area because we follow Joash’s pattern, which means, we obey, but we don’t keep obeying. We assume that obeying one time is sufficient, but minimal obedience always produces partial fulfillment. To break the ground by breaking a cycle, we must implement God’s instruction repeatedly in the same area. So for example, if we want to break a financial cycle, we must become relentlessly obedient in giving. We don’t give one time and wait for God to do the rest. We sow continuously to apply pressure to that cycle, and we refuse to let up until it breaks. As we obey, God severs the mentalities that kept us tied to bondage and shows us how to obey in every area where a cycle needs to be broken. He will keep freeing as long as we keep striking the ground. There is a reason He tells us to strike it five or six times.
Five is the number of grace, and we need it to break ground and to break cycles. Obedience can be very challenging in an area that a cycle has existed, but every time we obey, we become stronger and the ground becomes weaker. When obedience is difficult, remember that you are breaking a cycle and keep hitting that area until it breaks. It will break. As you press forward in obedience, you will start to feel the grace of God. His grace will undergird your obedience with a divine empowerment that enables you to keep going, and His presence will remind you that His hand rests on yours every time you strike the ground. You will begin to sense God’s pleasure as you obey, and you will realize that grace is a sign of private victory. It helps you conquer the internal challenges that come with relentless obedience, and when you feel it consistently, a cycle is about to break. But that doesn’t mean you have permission to ease up or quit. You hit the ground five times to secure a private victory, but you need to strike it a sixth time to win in public.
Six is the number of man, but it is also the number of the day that God broke ground to create man. After God made man on the sixth day, He completed His work and entered into a place of rest (Heb. 49-11). For that reason, when it regards breaking ground, six is a number that represents the cusp of completion. If you hit the ground one more time, you will see notable change and long-awaited manifestation. You will feel the ground break open, watch cycles be broken, and give continuous thanks to God that those bondages will never touch your seed. God will give you the victory in public that He promised you in private, and you will come into a place of rest known only by those who finish. Fortified with a rugged obedience and a newfound tenacity, you will enter that place with a simple testimony: “It did break, and by the grace of God, it didn’t break me.”