What you Have is What You Need

A Talk to Encourage the Church not to give up and allow their circumstances to dictate their blessing.  Life Church June 2012, a.m.

All of us want victory in something!  It might be a health issue, a financial issue.  But often victory is a generic term for any change in circumstance.

Judges 3:31: After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Cole: “Wisdom gives us strategy which leads to victory which gives God Glory.”

This verse and the few verses in chapter 5 comprise the sum total of Shamgar’s biblical biography. 

Before the life of Shamgar there is Ehud, a valiant left-handed judge who led the people to victory against the Moabites. Israel’s peace with the Moabites then lasted for 80 years.

But Israelites had many enemies that would frequently invade and plunder them.

Judges 5:6-9 describes the lack of public safety caused by these raids.

"In the days of Shamgar son of Anath...the roads were abandoned; travellers took to winding paths… village life in Israel ceased... not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel."

These desperate circumstances motivated one man, Shamgar, to remedy the situation.  The Bible simply describes his valour - he "struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad."

An ox goad was a farm implement.  Oxen were used to plough the fields, and to assure their cooperation the ploughman used a long wooden rod, anywhere from five to ten feet in length and up to two inches in diameter, to prod these sturdy animals into working.  It generally had a pointed end. 

This farmer’s tool became a lethal weapon in the hands of a courageous man of conviction.  He defended his family, his countrymen and his property against the invading marauders with a farm implement.

Let’s apply Shamgar’s accomplishment to our lives now.

1.   Triumph starts from where you are

Where was Shamgar?  What was the starting point for him? He was living in a time and place when his life and property, and the lives and property of his family and countrymen, were at the mercy of Philistine thieves and thugs.

He could have seen himself as helpless and hopeless but he didn’t.

Shamgar shows three qualities in his situation:

·       Commitment: He acts because he is committed to the wellbeing of his family and the community.

·       Control: He took control back from those who wanted to suppress him and took control of his situation

·       Challenge: He took the challenge to realise that what others would choose to live with was less than the best and so decided to fight.

Shamgar didn’t wait for perfect circumstances or perfect materials to start.  He started where he was.

In the Book of Judges God placed His Spirit upon leaders in spite of their weaknesses.  Beginning from a place of weakness is not necessarily a bad thing.  It can actually be a good thing because it can lead to a God-thing!

God can do things in the lives of people who admit that they need Him that He cannot do in the lives of people who will not admit that they need Him.

Three times the Bible says that God gives grace to the humble:

Proverbs 3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

James 4:6: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5: Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Shamgar did not wait until he had an army of thousands to lead in battle.  You and I don’t have to wait until things get better before we advance. 

What you can do for God, do it now!

2.   Triumph Follows From What You Have

An ox goad.  Shamgar didn’t have a sword or spear.  But he didn’t need one.  We don’t need a lot of things we think we need in order to succeed.

You may not have the monetary resources or the education you think it takes to succeed - but you can start where you are and use what you have - especially if you have the blessing of God on your life.

God approached Moses in the wilderness through the burning bush and told him to return to Egypt, confront Pharaoh, and lead the Hebrews up from slavery. 

Moses immediately slipped into an excuse mode. "What if they don’t believe me or don’t listen?”

“What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.  The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”  (Exodus 4:2).

When Moses obeyed, his staff turned into a snake.  Then God told him to pick it up by the tail.  He did and it became a staff again.  The staff was the instrument of God to turn the Nile River into blood and bring other great plagues on Egypt. It was the tool God used to part the Red Sea and bring about other miracles in the wilderness.

That shepherd’s staff wasn’t much but dedicated to God it became a mighty tool!

Liberation and justice for Israel was always in the heart of Moses – this Israelite boy raised in Pharaoh’s household. 

Exodus 2:11-17: One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.  Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.  The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting.  He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”  The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”  When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.  Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.  Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

·       Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating an Israelite slave.

·       Moses intervenes in a fight between two Hebrews.

·       Moses chases off shepherds who bully seven Midianites – foreigners.

What does this tell us?  That Moses had a heart for his nation and for the oppressed.  But his actions at that time depend on his stature – to see off a group of shepherds he must have been of some stature.

To move something from the heart to the hand we have to dedicate it to God (Psalm 37:3-6).

What is it that you already have that you can use for success? What has God already given you to help you realise your dreams?

The major problem is most Christians want to exercise the gifts that they do not possess!

·       David used what he had - a sling. 

·       For the little boy at the feeding of the 5,000 it was five loaves and two fish. 

·       For Samson it was the jawbone of a donkey.

God can use anything.  What is it for you?  Don’t wait for ideal circumstances and supplies to come your way.  Don’t wait on God to send you something you already have.

3.   Triumph Comes from Doing What We Can in God

Victory, not failure, is your epitaph.

Defending himself against 600 Philistines with an ox goad definitely elevates Shamgar to the status of a champion.  It doesn’t matter if he did it all at once or on separate occasions.  All that matters is that he did what he could.

What if I failed already?  A man will learn from his mistakes. Failure is a part of success.

Proverbs 24:16: “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”

Quote: D.L. Moody: “If God be your partner, dream big dreams!” – found after he died written in the flyleaf of his Bible.

Romans 8: 31: What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

The only man who never failed is the man who never tried.

If you want to double your success ratio, double your failure rate.

You may not be able to do something better than others.  You may not get your name in the headlines but if you will do what you can God will bless what you do.

Wrapping it all up:

What can one person do?  What can you do? 

In Judges 3, there’s only one verse about this man Shamgar. Was what he did significant?  It was to God.  It was to his family.  It was to his nation.  The Bible says, "He too saved Israel."

Brothers and sisters: Your life’s service is significant to God!

·       Start where you are;

·       Use what you have ;

·       Do what you can and you will succeed in life and ministry.