“So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it” (2Kg 6:1-7)
This is a wonderful story that will encourage every believer who has lost something in the past. The loss can be spiritual or material. Many people say to me: ‘The money I don loss for this my life is enough to build me a mansion’. Just imagine that God can bring back to you the money that you’ve lost, or opportunities that you’ve missed in the past to make your life better. For God is able to do all things! Our God is the God of miracles! This story is soaked with ‘a recovery anointing’. Read, meditate and believe the Word of God! Come back with a testimony of recovery! ‘Pursue, overtake and recover all!’ (1 Sam 30:8)- says the Spirit of God!
Prophet Elisha was the ‘president’ of the Prophetic Bible School in Israel. His students approached him saying that ‘the class rooms and the hostel’ are too small for the number of the students. This increase is good news! May it be so in our churches! He agreed with their request and even went with them, to encourage them spiritually. This is a good example of a wonderful relationship between the pastor and his congregation. May it be so in our churches! They all went down to the River Jordan to cut down some trees to build the houses. Suddenly, one of the students shouted for help. As he was cutting the tree, his ax head fell into the River. To make matters worse, the ax was ‘burrowed’. He is a poor student and has no money to buy another ax to return to its owner. As you well know, River Jordan is a muddy river. The ax head sank in the muddy waters. Elisha cut down a new stick and threw it in the River at that same spot. Suddenly, the miracle happened: the iron ax head floated like it was made of sponge. Elisha commanded the student to ‘stretch his hand and pick it by himself’. God, thru the faith of Elisha did the miracle. For no iron floats on the water except by a miracle of God! The student has to exercise his faith by stretching his hand towards the iron and pick it. The stronger faith of the pastor is helping the weaker faith of the disciple. Wonderful ministry!
What are the lessons for us today? The first lesson is that God creates new things and God is able to recover things that are lost! The ax head was lost as the student was doing good, doing ministry. It is possible that as you obey and serve God, you may lose good things. If you are a child of God, you do not lose your salvation, but you can lose your spiritual weapons, your confidence, your testimony, your peace of mind or your anointing. The ax is a tool to work with. By losing it, you lose your usefulness in the house of God. That is great loss! Many people have accepted their losses. Their weapons, testimony, health, peace, joy and miracles are still buried in the mud. This is the time to revisit your failure so that you recover what you have lost! To the glory of God!
The iron is sharp. “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (PV 27:17). Iron sharpens iron. I need to remain sharp to be able to remain a true friend and a pastor to you. To be sharp it means to have a quick understanding, to be spiritually intelligent and have a clear vision of the Kingdom of God. The opposite of sharpness is to become dull, slow and foolish. God forbid! If you lose your spiritual and mental sharpness, you need to labor more before you arrive at the success desired. “If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success” (Ecc 10:10) It is foolish to continue working with a dull iron ax when you remember that in the past, it was sharper and the labor was so much easier. Wisdom says: stop laboring, pray and sharpen your tool! Then labor will be a pleasure and success is assured!
This is my testimony: recently, I lost my spiritual sharpness. Initially I did not realize it. This is a reminder that the devil always works thru deceit. I thought that all is ‘normal’. But then I discovered that when I try to remember a scripture it takes me longer than in the past. When I try to sing a song to God, I forget some of the words. When I preach, I stumble over words, I stammer… It was like I had a spiritual stroke… God forbid! Once I realized that I have a problem, that it affects my ministry and testimony, that this is not normal, that something is seriously wrong with me, I cried for help like the student in the story. Jesuss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (If you keep quiet, you will ‘suffer in silence’ and your testimony remains buried). I almost panicked!!!! I fasted and prayed for a word from God. His word to me is both medicine and light in the darkness! I need His Word to be able to come out from the pit of sickness, blindness, foolishness, deception and defeat. That is when the Holy Spirit reminded me of this story. Once I read it afresh, I knew that my ‘iron will float’ too! Elisha cut a new stick to point to the place of failure. He did not take the old stick that lost its head. This new stick pointed to the old fall represents the Cross of Christ! In the same way, I too needed a new wisdom, a deeper understanding of the Cross! By faith I stretched the hand of my soul and I received my miracle! By the power of the Holy Ghost, my sharpness in thinking, speaking and writing was restored to me! The devil tried to bind me but he failed! Out of the muddy waters of failure and loss, I rise with new wings of praise to God! My Lord who walked upon the waters, has restored my testimony! I rejoice for what God will do from now on! Halleluiah!
Green Pastures 