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Making Iron Swim

by Jerry Ousley  
5/27/2022 / Devotionals

MAKING IRON SWIM

 

2 Kings 6:1 - And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.”  So he answered, “Go.”  Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.”  And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”  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.”

 

So, here’s the Story:  The training school of the student prophets just wasn’t big enough so, they decided to go beside the Jordan River and build a new building.  Elisha gave them permission to do this but they insisted that he go with them, and he did.

 

As they were cutting down trees one of them took a big swing and the axe head flew off the handle and into the water.  Of course, it immediately sank.  It was solid iron. 

 

On occasion I used to watch David Letterman.  He had a segment in his show called “Will It Float?”  They would take ridiculous items and predict if they would float or not then put them in the water to see. 

 

This axe head had no buoyancy – it was solid iron – it did not float but sank to the bottom.  The problem was:  It was borrowed.  Elisha asked the man to show him where it had gone under, then he cut a stick and threw it into the river and, believe it or not the axe head floated to the top of the water where the man was able to retrieve it.

 

Did the stick make it float?  Was it some kind of magic stick?  Of course not – it was just a stick, but their faith in God moved Him so that He made it swim to the top of the water.  God will make the impossible happen even for us.

 

Here are some examples of swimming iron from the Bible:

 

Daniel in lion’s den.  God miraculously stopped the hungry, starved lions from devouring Daniel.  That was a miracle.

 

Jonathan and his armor bearer.  God allowed the two of them to go up a hill to a garrison of Philistines and defeat the entire garrison.  This garrison was about 20 men according to the story.  It was a miracle that two coming up a hill on hands and knees were able to defeat twenty.

How about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace?  They were thrown into a furnace heated so hot that those who bound them and threw them in died on the outside of the furnace.  But God sent one (identified as being like the Son of God) walking around in this burning inferno with them.  What an awesome miracle.

 

Then there was Peter awaiting execution in prison.  He was to die the next day but God sent an angel who told him to get up.  When he did the chains on his arms that bound him to a sleeping soldier on either side, just fell off.  He put on his shoes and followed the angel out of the prison.  The doors just came open as they walked out.  He was led completely out of the prison and down the block before the angel disappeared.  He was a free man.  What a miracle.

 

In more recent times there was a man called Brother Andrew in the sixties when Communism reigned terror in Eastern Europe.  After spending time being tortured in a Communist prison God called him to smuggle Bibles across the border.  If you read his book, you will see instances where his car was packed with Bibles and when searched the soldiers were blinded to the piles of contraband.

 

Then there was Corrie Ten Boom in a Nazi concentration camp – She thought she was being called out to die in their furnaces.  She was instead and without reason, released from prison.  A mighty miracle from God!

 

“But what if the iron doesn’t swim for me?”  We spoke of Daniel in the den of lions.  God worked a great miracle for him.  But I have often thought about all the hundreds of Christians who were devoured and torn to pieces in the Roman arenas.  What about them?  Why didn’t God make iron swim for them?  What of the three Hebrew men that endured the fiery furnace – again a great miracle from God.  But what about all the people that were burned at stakes just because of their stand for Christ?  Jonathan and his armor bearer won a great battle by God’s hand.  But what of all the Christian men and women who have died unjustly?  Brother Andrew was spared when he smuggled Bibles behind Communist lines but what of all those who were tortured and died in Communist prisons?  And Corrie Ten Boom was spared from the Nazi concentration camps but many Christian people died at the hands of the Nazi’s.  Why didn’t God spare them?

 

The fact of the matter is that they all had one thing in common – Their faith in God.  It took the same faith to see the mighty miracles as it did to die for Christ.  The miracle isn’t so much in the outcome of the story but in the faith those men and women displayed in God.

 

We must have that same faith.  I believe in miracles.  I believe that God wants to heal and deliver.  But to tell the truth, except for a couple of times, I haven’t experienced that many miracles from God.   In fact, most of the time I’ve had to do things the hard way.  I bet you have too.

 

God can work a miracle in your situation.  But what if He deems that it is better not too?  To stand in the midst of adversity and proclaim your faith in God is just as powerful if not even more so than to proclaim faith in the mighty miracles.  

 

God does make iron swim for all of us.  We might not see it with our natural eye but we can know that He is doing it just because our faith has not wavered because of our adversity. It takes the same faith to stand as it does to experience the miraculous.  Just because God is allowing great things to happen in the lives of others does not mean that He isn’t working in our lives as well.

 

Stand firm for God.  You will see the iron swim in your life.  It might be the hard way, but trust me, it will swim!

 

. . . Praise the Lord . . .

 

 

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey", "Ordeal", "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree." Newer books include "Finality" and "Dividing God's Church." Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge

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