We Don’t Always Know What It’s Going to Take (But We Keep Striking Anyway)

When King Joash struck the ground only three times, he didn’t know what it would take for victory — or how close he was to breakthrough. In this episode, Juli Reynolds, Nurse Coach and founder of The Yes Society, explores the ancient story of Elisha’s arrows through the lens of neuroscience, lifestyle medicine, and faith.

You’ll discover why persistence shapes the brain, how daily habits anchor healing, and how the rhythm of faith mirrors the science of neuroplasticity. Juli invites you to reimagine this story — not just as a battle, but as a harvest: the slow, sacred process of tending your health, heart, and hope until the fruit appears.

Whether you’re navigating self-care, forgiveness, or physical healing, this episode will remind you that breakthroughs come to those who keep striking — even when it feels small, awkward, or unseen.

“If the goal is worthy, we don’t stop that easy. We strike again.”

Transcript

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Welcome to Default To Yes, today we're gonna talk a little bit about a quiet daily persistence that really Bridges belief and breakthrough. It's something I've been pondering this week and how we keep going when you know when to stop, all of the things, and it's coming from a place that you probably won't expect me to be coming from. I know you have choices on how you spend your time, how you spend your commute, and what you listen to. I am honored to be on this journey with you. So let's get started. Today's message comes out of an Old Testament, passage a story that I heard and was contemplating this week. And I think just to give you some context,'cause it's not maybe a story that you've heard before or even thought about. I'm just gonna read it to you really quickly it's maybe not as a theological perspective as we can see, we're soulmates science and how we can apply this to our lives. So it comes outta second kings and it's, I'll just read it to you. So now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehovah King of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. My father, my father, he cried. The chariots and horsemen of Israel. Elisha said, go get a bow and some arrows. And he did. So take a bow in your hands. He said to the King of Israel. And when he had taken it, Elisha put his hand on the king's hand, open the east window, he said. And he opened it. Shoot. Elisha said, and he shot the Lord's arrow of victory over a. Elisha declared You will completely destroy the Ians of a effect. Then he said, take the arrows, and the king took them. Elisha told him, strike the ground, and he struck it three times and then he stopped. The man of God was angry with him, and said, you should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would've defeated Ara and completely destroyed it. But now You will defeat it only three times. Elisha dies and he is buried That's where it ends. that leaves me to ask a lot of questions. when the prophet Elisha was nearing the end of his life, king Joe came to him for guidance, right? Israel was under threat, and the king felt helpless. So Elisha tells him to take the bow, and some arrows, open the east window and shoot. the king does this, and Elisha declares this arrow, a symbol of victory. Then Elisha says, take the rest of the arrows and strike the ground. Joes strikes the ground once, twice, three times, and then he stops and Elisha gets angry. Then you should have struck the ground five or six times, and then you would've completely defeated Arum and, but now you'll only win a few battles. Well, here's the thing. the king didn't know what it would take, and Elisha didn't give him a number or any specific instructions. maybe the king thought, this feels silly, or Why keep going? Or struck the ground three times and thought, is that enough? Maybe he was looking for a quick win, a symbolic act, not a full surrender. Maybe he didn't give into that moment and allow that momentum to build. Maybe he did what was required but not what was possible. regardless, he obviously stopped short according to Elisha and history as well. He didn't seem to do this out of rebellion, but more like a reservation, and that's what Elisha saw. It was a heart that wanted an outcome without that outgoing effort or without the faith involved to first see the victory through. Now. Some of this is speculation, obviously, but I think this is about momentum and neuroplasticity. Every time we repeat a healthy habit. A deep breath before reacting, A nourishing meal instead of junk, a prayer instead of panic. We're striking the ground. We're doing the things that we know we should be doing. We are acting out of faith even when we don't know what the outcome is going to be. We're wiring our brains for resilience and peace, and that's not an instant reward. three strikes might build awareness, but it's really the fifth or sixth or seventh strike that really rewires identity. faith isn't just about believing that God can move, it's behaving as if he already is. it's persistence. That becomes pattern and trust that becomes transformation. now if the battle analogy feels a little heavy to you, we can shift the lens a little bit and imagine a farmer, instead of a warrior planting a seed, watering it, waiting. And then that weighting can feel as strange as striking the ground with arrows because it's faith in action without the visible results. And we all know how farmers are and how gardens are, sometimes it turns out, sometimes it doesn't. But eventually you'll get a harvest if you just keep going. you can't really prevent the harvest. Now this came up in my workplace this week and was tying all of this together as I contemplated this every day. and honestly, I don't just open to Second Kings automatically, as inspirational reading. I am using an app. called Lectio and it goes through Common prayer, and the lectionary it's just a way for me to do prayer throughout the day and have that sense that I'm praying in concert with others around the world. I use that app and this is where we were focusing. This is the passage that every day we were focusing on. being nurses is that sometimes we just have to do the right thing, even if it's not rewarded in the way we want it to be, or immediately we just have to sometimes live or work as nurses, and it's really not just nursing, honestly. As humans just do the right thing, knowing that doing the right thing is enough. even though it might not be appreciated or rewarded, it might even be punished. We still have to do the right thing. I said to two different nurses, in my effort to encourage them I just said, just be the nurse that you want to be. Be the nurse that you know that you are. And that sometimes just has to be enough. And as I say it to other nurses, I know that's true for me too, when people are not appreciative or they're even mean, nasty or insulting. And you're just really trying to serve them or help them. It's hurtful honestly, I had a couple moments this week where I just felt like I just, I just wanna quit and, and then I thought about this passage that striking the ground and just continuing and trusting God and not growing weary Because if we don't grow, we weary in doing good, and at the proper time we'll reap that harvest. If we don't give up now, we don't know what that harvest is gonna be. We don't know what it's gonna look like. And I think sometimes that's what Ephesians means by Above and beyond what we can think or imagine, because I think those rewards aren't maybe what we're thinking. They are the battle, the harvest, whatever your, comfortable analogy is or the story that you can live in and be inspired by. They both require the same thing, and that's persistent participation, and faith If the goal is worthy. Healing wholeness, forgiveness, growth, love, relationship with our creator. We don't stop after the third strike. We don't quit watering the field because it hasn't sprouted yet. We keep showing up and we keep tending the soil of our souls because miracles are most often found. Mid strike, mid-season, mid obedience. We all know the story of overnight successes that took 10 years to get there. Usually when somebody is experiencing success, when you hear what it took to get there, it means there was a lifetime, decades of work put in before that overnight success. As a nurse, I see this every day in healthcare medications can be arrows. quick targeted interventions, but we don't stop there. Lifestyle is that daily striking the ground, the slow, steady cultivation of health, a lot of times we stop at quick interventions. When we forgive, we reduce inflammatory markers. When we move our bodies, we oxygenate our brains. When we pray or meditate, we quiet the stress response. That's where we can start to get in touch with who we are, the present moment, what we are created for, and with our creator. Healing isn't a moment, it's a rhythm. And faith is the pulse that keeps it going. sometimes we have to go back and find our Elisha again Until we experience the breakthrough, faith isn't perfection, it's persistence, and we need our elishas. We need to listen to them and heed their words, So I'll ask you this. Where have you been striking the ground, but stopped too soon? Where his faith felt awkward or you to understand how many strikes it takes. Maybe he's not asking you to figure it all out. Maybe he's asking you to keep going until he says stop. And then maybe one more. Because those who keep sowing, keep trusting, keep striking. They're the ones that see the harvest. they're the ones who get to the end of their life and have no regrets. So let's end with a breath. If you have your essential oils, then grab those. If you're driving, of course you're probably not gonna be able to do this. But peppermint for focus, bergamot for courage, both of those would be great. there are so many options. But breath, I know you have right now, so let's take a deep breath in and hold it and release. I like to count to five, hold it for two, and then release to at least five or six. doing that several times and how you remember that is five times, two times 10. So breathe in for five. Hold for two, breathe out for five and Do that 10 times and you have reset your nervous system. So again, breathe in hold it, and breathe out. Whisper to your own heart. I will aim east and I will strike again, not in striving but steady, sacred surrender because you are both the warrior and the farmer. You're called to fight the good fight and tend the good ground. Take care of yourself to live. Fully and live in abundance, to love openly, to imagine the possibilities, and then inspire others to do the same. Doing all of that, we are promised that in due time the harvest will come. We're just not really told what that harvest looks like, and it's also doesn't look the same for everyone. So go on your own journey. Train your brain to cooperate with you in the way that you really want to show up in the world. If this message spoke to you, share it with someone who is in the middle of their three strikes. Remind them not to stop. you can also, get on the email list and download the Aim East Journal and Aroma Ritual that is inside the Yes Society. That'll help us help you integrate this practice into your week. Until next time, live fully, love deeply, and always default to yes, your extraordinary self.