Daily Devotional
2 Kings 13:18-19 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 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.
The difference between victory and defeat depends on what you do with your opportunities when they present themselves. King Joash realized only partial victory because he did not take full advantage of the opportunity that was presented to him. After he went to visit the Prophet Elisha, he was instructed to take a bow and arrows and shoot an arrow through the window. Thereafter, Elisha revealed to him that the arrows represent deliverance from the hands of the Syrians. With that made clear, King Joash was told to beat the ground with the arrows that he had in his hand. He proceeded to strike the ground with the arrows three times, which made Elisha furious. Only beating the ground three times meant that the number of victories that he would have over the Syrian army would be limited to three. While, if he had beaten the ground 5 to 6 times he would have totally destroyed them. King Joash’s failure to seize the moment, prevented him from extracting maximum value from the opportunity that was laid before him.
There are 3 keys to make the most of any opportunity. The first is the wisdom to fully see the opportunity that is before you. King Joash lacked that wisdom. However, Blind Bartimaeus had it. He quickly recognized that Jesus passing his way was the opportunity he needed to get his sight. Being aggressive is the second key to taking full advantage of an opportunity. Blind Bartimaeus did that, he never stopped shouting the name of Jesus until he got His attention. With the necessary aggression, King Joash would not have stopped at 3 strikes, he would have kept going. Persistence is the final key needed to make the most of opportunities. Blind Bartimaeus showed persistence when he kept shouting even when the people told him to shut up.
If you keep believing, the right opportunity will come to give you the victory that you desire. But, when it comes you have to be ready to make the most of it.
Life Application: Make the most of the opportunities that will come your way by asking God for wisdom and then pursue them with aggression and persistence.
Prayer: Lord, help me to make the best of my opportunities. Give me the wisdom to discern the opportunities in front of me and the determination to ensure that they materialize. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Daily Devotional 
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