2 Kings 6:2
Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
The sons of the prophets saw they had a need. Their need was that the dorms they slept in were too small for them. Their answer was to go and build a bigger dorm where they would have sufficient room for all of the sons of the prophets to dwell.
As they were building this dorm, one of the young men was cutting down a tree when his borrowed axe broke, and the head of the axe fell into the water. This young man did not have the money to purchase another axe for he had to borrow this one. This young man went to Elisha and poured out his need to the man of God, and the man of God answered by taking a stick and throwing it into the water, which resulted in the axe head swimming back to shore so the young man could fix his axe.
There was one critical need this young preacher boy lacked that kept him from doing the job he started to do. When you look at these preacher boys, they all had a vision for how to overcome their needs. Certainly, having a vision separated these young men from others in their day.
Not only did these young men have a vision to overcome their needs, but they had faith that God could provide the need. While many in their day did not have the faith to build something, these young men, to their credit, had the faith to believe that God could help them build something greater than themselves.
Moreover, these young men had the initiative to act on faith. There are many who have a great vision and the faith to believe that God can fulfill that vision, but they don't have the initiative to make the vision a reality. Many want others to do the work to fill the vision of faith when God expects each individual to have initiative to fill that vision themselves.
However, there was one critical need these men did not have that Elisha did have; they did not have the power of God on their lives. You have to understand that vision, faith and initiative are a mirage without the power of God. It takes the power of God to make all of these work together. This young man had many necessary traits that others did not have, but without God’s power those traits could not do what needed to be done.
We certainly live in times when people need to get a vision. We live in days where faith is very much needed. We live in times when initiative is a rare character trait among believers. It would behoove any believer to develop these three things in their lives because you will never do anything for God without vision, faith, and initiative.
However, your greatest need is God’s power. God’s power is what makes vision, faith, and initiative become a reality. Peter had the vision, faith, and initiative to walk on the water, but without the power of God he sank. The disciples had the vision, faith and initiative to win souls to Christ, but without the power of God they failed to meet the needs that could only come by the power of God. There are many things in life you need, but without God’s power you will never do the work of God to the capacity that is needed for your day. Let me challenge you to beg God for his power and never do anything in His work without it.