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A while back, in a post titled Consider the Source (Oct. ’07), I related what is probably one of the most widely-known Bible stories of all, the tale of Jonah and the Really, Really Big Fish (probably second only to the story of Adam and Eve.)

(And by the way, The Bible is full of wonderful stories about all kinds of people and events. Whether you accept the Bible as the Word of God or just a good book, it’s truly worth your time to get familiar with it. There’s no end of life lessons to be found in its pages.)

Possibly one of the least-known stories is one from the Book of 2 Kings. To be honest, though, at first I found it to be just an “interesting little story”. But if you’ll bear with me a few minutes, I think you’ll find that there’s a remarkable truth to be learned from it.

The Lost Ax Head

The story is in Chapter 6, and relates a time when the Prophet Elisha (the august fellow pictured above), who at the time ran a school for young prophets, decided to expand his operation a bit in order to house a growing number of students. (I guess the prophet business must have been doing pretty well at the time.)

While chopping a tree, however, one of the students lost his ax head in the Jordan River. In those days, an ax head was an inordinately valuable piece of equipment. Naturally, the poor student was aghast.

Now, the Jordan is a fast-flowing and very muddy river, so jumping in and recovering it was problematical at best (not to mention the minor little detail that at the time, few people knew how to swim!) However, after asking the young fellow to point out the spot, Elisha tossed a stick in the water where it fell.

To the astonishment of the young prophet, the ax head immediately rose to the surface, and “swam” to the shore, where it was recovered with great relief.

By now you may be thinking to yourself, “Uh, say what? The prophet Elisha? Floating ax heads? What has that got to do with me?”

Well, bear with me a moment; I need to share a little story first.

On Calculus and Motivation

My quest to become an engineer was a somewhat long and, er, crooked road. In fact, when I started, I didn’t even know that’s what I wanted; I just went to college because it was expected of me. (Sadly, I had no real appreciation for what my parents did for me at the time. What can I say? I was young – and stupid.)

After about a year and a half of college, however, I decided to give up on my engineering degree and go to work (I blame it on Calculus, but in truth, it was simply a question of motivation). So naturally I got a job in engineering! (Trust me; it wasn’t on purpose. It’s just the only place I was qualified, and I didn’t want to work in construction.)

Ironically, 20 years later I realized I did indeed want to be an engineer (sound of parents saying “I told you so!”). So what to do? Well, no doubt you will agree with me that the next move was obvious: I had to go back to college.

It wasn’t a question of now wanting to be an engineer; the desire was there now. I could even visualize it; taste it; heck, I could feel it! But before I could finish the dream and accomplish the goal, well, I had to go back to the point where I had lost it. I had to finish what I’d started before being able to move forward.

Quite simply, I had to pick up where I left off.

So Where Did You Drop It?

Let’s start with some leading questions.

Are there any big plans you’ve had in the back of your mind for some time now? Dreams that still manage to stir your heart every time you think about them? Is there a B.H.A.G. (big, hairy, audacious goal) waiting for you every time you close your eyes? Is there something you just know you’ve got to accomplish in this lifetime?

Have you ever begun a B.H.A.G., but somewhere along the way, well, you just kinda ran out of steam?

If this has ever happened to you, then my friend, I know exactly how it feels! Trust me; you’re not alone! In fact, it’s probably a safe bet that nearly everyone has experienced this sort of thing at one time or another.

Now suppose you dust off that dream? Suppose you begin to think again about how exciting and great it would be to accomplish that thing you began way back when? C’mon, be honest; can’t you feel a stirring begin within your heart? Wait a minute – was that your soul jumping up and down with excitement? Can you hear it telling you go! go! go!

OK; here’s what you do. Go back to that place you were when you dropped the dream. Consider carefully what you’ve already done toward accomplishing it. Think hard about what you know now, and compare it with what you knew then. Allow the hope to well up within you and begin to visualize that thing, accomplished!

I promise you; if you’ll diligently do those things, you’ll see that dream resurface from the muddy waters of time, just like a, well, a certain ax head that fell into a muddy river. You’ll see it miraculously float to the surface and swim to the shore. Suddenly, you’ll find it’s within your power to reach out and take hold of it!

What will you do?

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