Grab Your Axe!

In II Kings 6:1-7, the Prophets are going to build a place. They go to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the axe head fell off a borrowed axe and flew into the water. That man cried “Oh no!” Elisha, the holy man, asked “where did the axe head sink?” The man showed him. Elisha then threw a branch, or stick, at the spot and the axe head floated to the surface. He said, “Grab it!” God brought the axe head to the surface, but NOT to the shore. God doesn’t do everything for us. He brings things to the surface and shows us what to do, but we must do the work.

An axe has two main parts. The wood handle for absorbing the impact of an ax and the iron blade.

Iron is strong and heavy. The fact that the iron axe head floated shows that God can do anything that is seemingly impossible. He can cause iron to float. The strong and durable blade represents hope. The man has hope that Elisha can get back the blade.

The stick Elisha threw was wood. Wood symbolizes the power of the cross. The man probably had wavering hope that the axe head would be retrieved, but the axe head coming back to float on the water is a miraculous retrieval of lost hope. There is no axe without a handle and blade.

Spiritually, there is no hope, or strength, without the power of the wood behind it. The power of the cross is there. We just have to grab a hold of it.

If you have the power of a wood handle and an axe head blade, you have a weapon. If you have the power of the cross and hope, you have a weapon. “The message of the cross…. To us who are being saved, it is the mighty power of God.”

A floating axe head is easier to grab ahold of than one that sinks all the way to the bottom. When God brings things to the surface in our lives, He’s making it easier for us to grab ahold of. We have not sunk to the bottom; there’s still hope.

An axe can cut down a forest not because of its size but because of the power behind the handle and the blade TOGETHER. We can cut down the enemy because of the power behind our spiritual weapon.

What is God bringing to my surface and showing me that I need to grab a hold of and apply to the power of the cross? God‘s grace can raise anything that has sunk and restore it to its usefulness again with the power of the cross and hope.