2 Kings 6, Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. 2 Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” 3 Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.” 4 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7 He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.
God wants us to carry influence and impact in His name. He also wants us to steward expansion. He doesn’t want us to have a mindset of limitation and restriction; instead He wants us to believe Him for things only He can do. He wants us to be set free from the small thinking that keeps us in “limitation.” He said that we would do even greater works than He did. We have to stop having theological discussions about that statement and simply start believing for it and walking in it. In whatever sphere of influence God has given you, He wants you to release greater impact. He might even desire to expand your sphere of influence.
The key to this new and larger place Elisha and the sons of the prophets were to live in was a borrowed ax-head. The borrowed ax-head represents the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and without this power the work could not be done. Being a borrowed ax-head meant that it belonged to someone else, but was theirs to use. The power that we carry and are called to release in this world is only ours because someone else has given it to us. It is by the very life of Jesus living in us by the power of the Holy Spirit that we release impact and influence. We are totally and utterly dependent on Him and Him alone. The power to live the Christian life is a borrowed power.
Without the ax-head, cutting down trees can be very tedious. Imagine trying to cut down a tree with only an ax handle. All you’d end up with is exhaustion, pain, and bruised trees. Sadly, this is how many people live the Christian life. They don’t realize that they’ve misplaced the ax-head. They are trying to live the Christian life, and do ministry, wearing themselves out and, in pain, bruising everyone around them. Here is something you have to hear; whenever you’re using something that belongs to someone else, you have to be even more careful with how you handle it and how you take care of it. More to come on this.