October #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 277: The power to turn us.

“Shamgar son of Anath rescued Israel.” Judges 3:31 NLT

Mom’s know that there are little words required to get our point across when the edge has been trampled over and the house rules lie shattered on the ground. In fact, words aren’t always required.

Today’s one verse tells the entire story of a man’s life. One source suggested that Shamgar’s very name was a riddle! In the book of Judges, God sent, enlightened, and empowered hero’s to save His people at their request. Again and again they would stray away, and then come back and beg God for help.

Our loving Father, though He cannot in His perfectly just manner be in the presence of or excuse the consequence of sin, will never leave us alone and abandoned when we cry out to Him. In this one verse, He sends Shamgar.

Shamgar ben Anath was not intentionally serving Israelite interests, yet Yahweh still provided deliverance by his hand. -NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

We are all potential instruments of the good works of God, and the amazing feats that come from the drafts of His creative hand.

He once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad. Judges 3:31

There’s no way on earth Shamgar was that strong or that capable. To destroy hundreds of men with a stick is unrealistic. It’s impossible. And it’s exactly the kind of thing that God does.

An oxgoad was a long wooden stick, sometimes having a stone or metal tip. It was used to poke oxen to make them keep moving when working. It was a simple farm instrument that many Israelites owned, and for Shamgar to use it successfully against hundreds of well-armed Philistines shows God’s supernatural blessing on his exploits. -NIV Quest Study Bible Notes

We may not understand death and destruction, why God allows it and why He doesn’t stop it. How suffering is allowed at the hand of one and cursed at the hand of another. There is much we don’t know and will never comprehend. But we can trust that God is good, and that He is the God of the impossible. He will never leave us stranded, even in the wake of our own bad choices. Jesus died on the cross to wipe away anything that could ever separate us from God.

Father, Praise You for the heroes of the Old Testament, and the lessons that we learn from the works You drafted in their lives. Thank You for the lessons we learn from Shamgar’s impossible feat, and unintentional service on Your behalf. Forgive us for thinking we accomplish impossible feats by our own strength, and bless us to give You honor for the amazing things You do in all of our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy One Verse Searching,

Megs

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