A Common Man

"...God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty." I Cor. 1:27b

Whoever heard of Shamgar? He's only mentioned in two verses of the Bible. 

"And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel." Judges 3:31

Shamgar may seem a "nobody". Yet his heroic deed has a message for the rest of us "nobodies".

The Philistines oppressed Israel. Shamgar stood with God. He must have been a farmer, a common fellow. His instrument was a ox goad -- a sharp stick used to prod oxen. This common man with his simple tool killed 600 of the oppressors and delivered Israel from servitude. He took what he had and used it in God's work.

I inspect myself and find no great gift or skills. I'm not well-known or wealthy. I'm not highly educated or particularly eloquent. I'm a common man. Shamgar encourages me. May he encourage you. He came from the common ranks. Shamgar was common, but what he did was not. He used what he had for God. We can do that. He won a great victory -- an impossible one. "With men it is impossible, but with God all things all possible."

We are weak; the enemy is strong. When we are weak, then we are strong. We are weak; God is strongest. If all we have is our "ox goad," it is enough. Let us give ourselves to God and trust Him to get the job done. Lord, help us remember that all the heroes and heroines of the Bible are men and women of like passion as we.