Unlikely, Part 3: Shamgar and the tool already in your hand

How much of the Bible does it take to tell the story of a national hero? Moses gets four books. David gets most of two. Samson gets four chapters. Now look at this:

After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel. (Judges 3:31, NASB)

That's the whole story. One verse. No backstory, no call narrative, no resume. Shamgar is the patron saint of everybody who ever felt like a footnote.

A Man With No Resume

We don't know his tribe or his hometown. Some scholars think "son of Anath" means he may not have been a pedigreed Israelite at all. God didn't check his credentials. He checked his willingness.

And the days were dark. Deborah's song says that in the days of Shamgar, the highways were deserted and travelers kept to the back roads (Judges 5:6). Ordinary people were living small, scared lives. Somebody had to do something, and the somebody God picked was a farmer.

The Weapon That Wasn't a Weapon

An oxgoad was a long pole with a point on one end for prodding oxen and a blade on the other for scraping mud off the plow. It wasn't military issue. It was the thing his day job had already put in his hand.

God has always worked this way. He asked Moses, "What is that in your hand?" A shepherd's staff, and God split a sea with it. David passed on the king's armor and picked up his sling. A widow had one jar of oil. A boy had a sack lunch that fed thousands.

God keeps multiplying the ordinary thing that gets surrendered. Your trade. Your testimony. Your kitchen table. Your truck. You keep waiting for the sword. God is saying, pick up the goad.

More Deadly Than Rambo

We love the lone hero with the whole arsenal. Rambo straps on the ammo belt and the knife the size of your forearm and takes on an army. But it took John Rambo five movies and an armory to build his legend. Shamgar got six hundred in one verse with a cattle prod.

Rambo needed an arsenal. Shamgar needed availability.

That's the word for everyone waiting on their arsenal: the training you think you need first, the savings account, the confidence, the credentials. God isn't asking for your arsenal. He's asking for your availability.

He Also Saved Israel

Don't rush past the last words of that verse: he also saved Israel. Shamgar isn't a footnote. He's a deliverer, listed with Ehud before him and Deborah after him.

He held the line in his moment, and Deborah's generation rose behind him. The overlooked man may be the bridge the famous one walks across. Your quiet obedience this year could be holding the line for somebody who hasn't been born yet.

And remember what else wasn't a weapon. The cross was a Roman tool of execution, and God turned it into the instrument of the world's deliverance. If he can do that, he can use your goad.

Three Moves

1. Name what's already in your hand, and stop apologizing for it.
2. Stop waiting to feel ready. Obedience comes first and equipping follows.
3. Use it now, on the person actually in front of you.

This week, use one ordinary thing in your hand to serve one specific person. Not a category of person. A name.

Pastor Josh

This post is adapted from Unlikely: The Heroes You Read Right Past. Join us Sundays at 10 a.m. at 501 S Main St in Sheridan. Plan your visit.