The Bolt Story

By Stan McMahan

I began my walk with the Lord at a time of despair in my life. Having failed to see what I considered to be examples of people who lived by faith and trusted God to do miracles on their behalf, I had come to believe that the miracles of God (as recorded in the old testament) were a thing of the past and not for this season. One Day about 15 years ago I was reading the bible and discovered that God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow.

At the same time I was also reading 2 Kings 6 So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a beam, [2]the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed." 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. He said, "Take it up for yourself." So he put out his hand and took it. …And it fascinated me that God was able to float the ax head on behalf of a people in need.

At that point I rededicated my life with a desire to see God float an ax head (frankly at that point I was skeptical that he could) but all else in my life had gone array. Many years later (about 6) My Wife and I were doing mission work in the upper Appalachian area when it happened that the starter on my pickup truck broke. At that time we lived completely by faith, and while God supplied all our needs it seemed that we never had any extra. Therefore the news of the broke starter didn't seem to be a blessing.

In the area that we were in you usually went to someone's house instead of a business to get things repaired. We lived on a gravel road traveled by only 5 cars a day, among 300-acre farms. As I walked to my neighbor's house for directions, I spotted a new machine bolt lying in the road. I picked it up, put it in my pocket, and thought no more about it. After getting my directions I pushed off my truck and drove the roughly 10 miles to get it fixed. I arrived at a location that looked a lot like a scene from the movie "Deliverance". Two house trailers, one was the shop, the other home and it was difficult to tell them apart. I soon discovered that the owner of the business was a Christian and his helper a local boy who had gone "up north" to seek his fortune only to get mixed up in drugs, divorced, and had returned home to lick his wounds.

Meanwhile the owner and myself were swapping Lord stories about the many times God had come through for us in an hour of need. Many times the owner would tell his helper that he should listen to me because " God had sent me to him". As it turned out my starter needed a set of brushes to fix it. Not having the correct replacement part we started with a set that were to large and filed them down to fit. The Starter would work perfectly on the bench but when it was reinstalled in the truck it wouldn't work. The heathen was doing all the hard work taking the starter out and replacing it in the truck. This process had to be done 4 times and took about 4 hours.

The helper had also been talking about how his car was broken. He had gone to the 3 towns near us, each about 10 miles away, and couldn't find what he needed. He would now need to go to he next town about 30 miles away, not an easy task for a druggie on foot. Finally, the heathen, after hearing about the wonders of God for 4 hours, had all the fun he could stand. With an oath he proclaimed that "God had never done anything for me". After which I asked "have you ever asked God for anything." "No" came the reply. To which I responded " If God could do something for you right now what would it be". He replied " He would help me fix my car". I asked, "what do you need?" He said "a bolt". In my spirit God said, "give him the bolt". I reached into my pocket and handed the young man the bolt saying, "does it look like this bolt?"

I could tell by his expression that it was exactly what he needed. "Don't ever say again that God has never done anything for you. He not only supplied your need but he sent someone to deliver it. Tonight when you are repairing your car and find that this is exactly what you need, close your eyes and get things right between you and the Lord."

With my words still echoing in the air my truck started. Since they had been working on my truck for 4 hours, and I had maybe $100.00, I figured now I had the problem. The owner asked the heathen what he was going to charge me for his portion of the work. He replied " Since God sent him, I won't charge him anything ". The owner said " if you won't charge him anything I won't either". With that we bowed our heads. I lead us in prayer of thanks, and left. I had maybe gone 500 feet when the gravity of what just happened struck me. I was so high in the Lord I don't remember the trip home. Since that day I have never doubted that God can still float ax heads if he wants to. I require no further proof.

Yours in Christ Stan McMahan

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