A WORD FOR TODAY, March 29, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 29, 2021
“The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, ‘See now, the place where we live and meet with you is too small for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and each man take a beam from there, and let’s make us a place there, where we may live.’ He answered, ‘Go!’ One said, ‘Please be pleased to go with your servants.’ He answered, ‘I will go.’ So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was cutting down a tree, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, ‘Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.’ The man of God asked, ‘Where did it fall?’ He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, ‘Take it.’ So he put out his hand and took it.” 2 Kings 6:1-7, WEB
Today’s question is: “Where did it fall?”
It has become a running joke in my house that I can never find my cell phone. Well, I suppose it has always been that way. My children will tell you a story about a day we were rushing out of the house to go somewhere and I couldn’t find my phone. We called it several times, heard it, and looked where the sound seemed to be. We did this several times and I kept going back into my purse that was hanging from my shoulder. Then, it occurred to me that there was a pocket in my coat right next to the purse. That’s where we found the phone, after much too much time looking.
That was probably fifteen years ago; imagine how bad I am fifteen years older! I don’t carry my phone everywhere I go around the house, so it will often end up in strange places. I’ll put it on the kitchen counter when I go to cook, but then leave it there when I’m off to do another chore. I place it on my dresser when I run to the bathroom, but then go off to the office to work on my writing. I often forget to take it out of my purse when I’ve been out running errands. Whenever I can’t find my phone, someone will ask, “Where did you have it last?” That is a silly question, isn’t it? If I knew where I had it last, it wouldn’t be lost!
Today’s story is probably not very familiar to many. It isn’t used in the lectionary. I don’t think I’ve seen it in Sunday school or VBS curriculum. It is a fun story, though, and the question is equally absurd as the one I’m asked when I can’t find my phone. The axe head fell in the river. I don’t know about you, but I can point in the right general direction when something falls in a river, but it is still impossible to find. The spot comes and goes so quickly that it is hard to pinpoint as the water closes in and makes the point of entry disappear. A river’s movement pushes everything a few inches or feet from where it entered, even something heavy like an axe head. “Where did it fall?” can be answered only with generalizations. Trying to find the axe head in the river would be like looking for my phone in my purse when it is really in my pocket, so close, but so far.
O.S. Hawkins, the writer of “The Jesus Code”, the book I’m using, talked about the cutting edge of the axe head and how we often lose our cutting edge. We get so caught up in the busy-ness of life that we lose touch with the source of our power. The cutting edge for Christians is the power of Christ in and through the Holy Spirit. The tree would never get cut down if the man hit it with just the handle and we can’t accomplish anything if we have lost touch with the God gives us everything we need to accomplish His work in the world. Hawkins noted that the man who lost the axe head was busy doing God’s work, building a place for the school of prophets to meet. We, too, often get too caught up in the work we are doing and we don’t realize we’ve lost our “cutting edge”, we’ve lost touch with the God for whom we claim we are working.
“Where did it fall?” is the question we might ask ourselves if we feel like we’ve lost our cutting edge, and yet it is as difficult to answer as it is to find an axe head in a river. Our passion fizzles a little at a time until we don’t even realize it is lost. The only way to find it again is to turn to the One from whom it comes. The man in the story went to the man of God, “It is lost.” The man from God used God’s power to find it again. We don't need a mediator: we can seek God's power to do the same thing. We can trust that God will fill us with His Spirit to restore our passion to do His work again. He’ll raise our cutting edge from the depths, even if it seems impossible to find. So, let us ask God to help us and grasp what He has to give, for He is faithful to His promises to equip us with all we need to accomplish His purpose in our lives.
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