Judges 3:26-31: a reflection

26Ehud escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah. 27When he had come, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he led them. 28He said to them, “Follow me; for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over. 29They struck at that time about ten thousand men of Moab, every strong man and every man of valor. No man escaped. 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. Then the land had rest eighty years. 31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. He also saved Israel.

After Ehud delivers Israel from Moab, the account adds a brief note about another deliverer: After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad. He also saved Israel. Shamgar gets only a single verse, and his weapon was not a soldier's sword but an ox goad, a simple farmer's tool for prodding cattle. With that ordinary implement, the thing that happened to be in his hand, he struck down the enemy and saved his people.

Notice what Shamgar used to deliver Israel: an ox goad, an ordinary farm tool. He was not equipped as a warrior; he had no fine weapons, only the humble implement of his everyday work. But God used what was in his hand, the ordinary tool he already had, to accomplish deliverance. Shamgar did not wait for better equipment; he used what he had, and God worked through it.

That is an encouragement to use what is already in our hand for God. We can imagine that we need special gifts, special resources, special equipment, before we can be useful to God, and so we wait, and do nothing. But God used a farmer with an ox goad; he can use the ordinary abilities, resources, and opportunities that are already in your hand. Do not despise the humble tools you have, or wait for something better before you act. Offer God what is in your hand, however ordinary, and let him use it. The God who delivered Israel through a farmer's ox goad can accomplish much through the ordinary means you already have; use what is in your hand for him.

Lord, Shamgar delivered Israel with an ox goad, an ordinary farmer's tool, the thing that happened to be in his hand; he did not wait for better equipment, but used what he had, and you worked through it. Encourage me by that. I can imagine that I need special gifts, resources, or equipment before I can be useful to you, and so I wait, and do nothing. But you used a farmer with an ox goad; you can use the ordinary abilities, resources, and opportunities already in my hand. Keep me from despising the humble tools I have, or waiting for something better before I act. Help me offer you what is in my hand, however ordinary, and let you use it. You who delivered Israel through a farmer's ox goad can accomplish much through the ordinary means I already have. Help me use what is in my hand for you, and not wait for what I do not have.