The Wood of Restoration

UV 1470/10,000 The Wood of Restoration
And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
2Kings 6 v 6
Where we lost anything, there the Lord will restore us there. Elisha’s disciples had lost the axe that they had borrowed in the river. They cried out to Elisha, “ Please come with us. We will show you where we lost it.” We too when we lose something, we should cry out to the Lord, “ Lord come with me.” Show Him where we lost it. If it is peace, He will restore it. The piece of wood that Elisha cut and threw in the place where the axehead fell and drowned is a symbol of the cross of restoration of Jesus. The wood floated but the iron axehead that sank to the depths of the river rose to the surface and joined with the wooden staff. The cross of restoration similarly causes the impossible, the improbable and the miraculous to happen in our lives. He will use it to restore all that we have lost. Every moment, every breath, every opportunity, every resource of ours is borrowed from the Lord. When we show Him where we lost it, He will restore us. The wood that was cut is also a metaphor for the specific word that we receive from scripture to restore us to fullness of joy in different circumstances.

When we lose something we need not grieve and become anxious. Instead, we should enter the presence and rest of the Lord and expect Him to do the impossible. The Lord’s word defies the law of gravity. Everything that drags us down into the depth of depression, anxiety and sorrow is overcome by the cross of restoration. Instead of casting away our faith, we should cast down all our anxieties, insecurities and fears at the feet of the Lord. The opposite of faith is not doubt but fear. The followers of Elisha were fearful of the loss they suffered. They were afraid of the anger and reaction of the persons from whom they had borrowed the axe. They felt ashamed. Fears and doubts dig deep tunnels through the mountain of our faith. We begin to enjoy the relative cool, dampness and darkness of these tunnels instead of living on the mountain top and climbing the sides of the mountain.

If we hold onto our faith and trust in the Word, the Lord will cause unfavourable circumstances to turn tide and swim towards us.I have several experiences where we lost many things and there seemed no hope of restoration. But as we held onto the promises of the Lord, He restored that which was lost in the very place we lost it. There are times in our lives when we seem to lose our blessings, when the presence of the Lord seems to have left us. The Lord will restore us splendidly.

Prateep V Philip