MikeMacIntosh: "Do you ever feel like you're fighting a battle"

Today's Devotion

From Mike MacIntosh

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.
Judges 3:31

Do you ever feel like you're fighting a battle, outnumbered and outsized by a host of armed opponents, with no better weapon than a shovel? I'm sure Shamgar must have felt that way. Maybe you've never heard of him; after all, he's only mentioned in this single verse of the Bible. But the Lord would use this man in a powerful, if unexpected, way.

Probably a farmer, Shamgar's name is literally translated "sword." But in battle against the Philistines, this farmer did not use a sword--or any military weapon--to fight. Instead, he used an average farming tool called an ox goad. Much like a cattle prod, it was about eight feet long and had a sharp metal point on one end, with a shovel on the other. It allowed a farmer to either clean things off, dig a hole, or poke an ox to get him moving along the road. And with this measly little tool, Shamgar single-handedly killed 600 enemy warriors. He didn't have swords, spears, knives, or hand grenades; he only had a single ox goad. But this guy was a farm boy who knew how to work with the tools he had--and that's all God wanted from him.

E.M. Bounds once said, "The world is looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men." Shamgar overcame the enemy, even though his methods and his resources were limited. Don't get hung up on always looking for the best methods, or resources, or people, to get further in life. It's not about any of that--it's about being obedient and faithful to God with whatever He has given you. When the Lord commands you to stand up and fight for Him, and you're standing there with nothing but an ox goad, say, "Okay Lord, this is all I've got; I'll do whatever you want me to do with it." Just take what God has given you and let Him take you in His hand with power.

Give whatever tools you have to the Lord and do like this man, Shamgar; stand your ground courageously and trust God to use what's in your hand to accomplish great things for His glory.

"What is a feeble instrument in the hands of one man is a mighty instrument in the hands of another; simply because the spirit of that other brooms with holy determination to accomplish the work that has to be done." - Joseph Parker