Elisha prays to find a sunken ax head, and it miraculously floats to the surface.
There are times when life’s mountainous problems get so big and high that it is easy to forget that God made those mountains. Those moments are the moments where we need a fresh reminder that our God is all-powerful and is the one who makes the mountains. That was the situation for this young man who worked with Elisha. This man was in a desperate moment. A massive army was advancing toward his location and he needed a quick glimpse of God’s power to help him survive the attack.
So, in desperation, he ran to Elisha and shared his dilemma with him: “Man of God, we borrowed an axe head from a townsman and it’s lying in the Jordan River.” (See 2 Kings 6:1-6.) Desperate situations beget desperate prayers.
When it comes to miracles, the story of this axe head is probably one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. But, like many of the other stories in the Bible, there is more to this miracle than meets the eye.
The unnamed young man was working with Elisha to cut down trees along the banks of the Jordan River in order to expand their facilities for housing the prophets. While chopping down these trees, one of the axe heads fell into the water. As he was crying out in despair, “Alas, my master! It was a borrowed ax!”, the man of God stepped in and asked him to point out where it had fallen. Once he did, Elisha then cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Against all odds, the iron ax head floated to the surface and was told to be grabbed by the young man.
Why did this ax head float? Why did it rise up out of the Jordan River when it should have sunk with the rest of the axe and all the wood it was attached to? It was a sign that God was showing this particular unnamed young man, just for him and not for the whole nation, that He was an all-powerful and all-mighty God.
The young man who sunk the ax head owed him a debt that he couldn’t pay, just like we all owe a debt that we can’t repay to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Yet, Jesus rose from the dead just like this ax head from the Jordan River to show us that His work on the cross paid our debt and saved us from destruction (2 Corinthians 15:3-4). What a wonderful reminder that our lives are in the hands of the all-powerful and all-mighty God who can do anything! Have you lost the ax head of your faith? If so, come to Elisha and he will make it float again. Just reach out and grab it!
