Alas, It Was Borrowed

First published in the Nov. 1992 Uplook.

We understand a miracle to feed 5,000 or to raise the dead, certainly, but for a lost axe?

The young man knew its importance. With the axe head gone, his means of serving the Lord and His people and being able to    do the things expected of him were gone as well. Now others would have to do his share as well as their own, and if they were not gifted for it, then the work would be slowed or its quality would suffer.

Gone too were the less tangible benefits of involvement. There is often a special bond between those with a common aim and work, but as an onlooker he would lose the benefit of the close companionship of his fellows. His witness to his friends and neighbors would suffer, too. They would see he was no longer involved and would wonder what was wrong. No longer would he be able to anticipate the day when he would hear his child, perhaps yet unborn, say, “My dad helped build this place. See his mark on this beam?” Knowing one’s parents are happily involved in the Lord’s work often has a steadying influence on children as they grow up.

Important as these things are, there was one overriding concern in his cry to Elisha, “Alas, Master, for it was borrowed.” Yes, he knew he was accountable. It was not his axe. It had been given to him to enable him to do the work. Now the one who gave it would lose the joy of partnership in the work and the man would have to go home and say that he had lost the thing given him to serve the Lord.

It is hard not to feel sorry for the young man, but axe heads do not come loose suddenly. They loosen little by little. He must have known. He had to work harder as the axe became less efficient; he should have taken time out to maintain it. But he did not stop and now it was gone.

So it is with us. God expects us to maintain the gift He has given us lest we also lose the use of it. What do we do if we already have lost it? The young man holds the answer. Elisha was his contact with God and he immediately sought his help.

“Where did you lose it?” is a question we must answer as well. It probably won’t be hard to go back to a time when we allowed something to come into our life when we noticed that all was not right. Our axe head had begun to loosen but we would not stop to put it right. Now the gift and its benefits are gone—but not our accountability.

Elisha then fashioned a new handle for the axe head and threw it into the water. Amazingly, the iron began to swim. Elisha’s work was done; the axe again became available to the young man. But it was his responsibility to pick it up and go back to work!

Let us keep our axe head tight. If necessary, let’s go back to where we lost it, so we can take it up again and return to the work committed to us by the Master.