“Houston, we have a problem.”
Those are the five worst words you can utter as an astronaut. And yet, those are the exact five words that Commander Jim Lovell remorsefully muttered as Apollo 13 experienced some serious turbulence in route to the moon.
After an oxygen tank exploded two days into their trip, the crewmembers of Apollo 13 found themselves in quite a predicament with a severely limited power supply and plummeting cabin temperatures. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that they also had one more minor problem-oxygen levels were rapidly diminishing while carbon dioxide levels were rising like a bullet. And in case you aren’t still up to date on your Periodic Table I can assure you that low oxygen levels combined with high carbon dioxide levels are not a good problem to have!
This is where my favorite scene from the movie Apollo 13 picks up-right in the crisis. After problem solving with their crew back in Houston, it was discovered that a quick change of the oxygen filters would do the trick. The only problem was that the spaceship took square filters while the astronauts only had round filters. Uh oh!
But rather than throwing in the white towel and just chalking this one up under the “Loss” column, the men at NASA put their heads together and found a way to use the various resources the astronauts had on board to create a makeshift filter that would get them home safely. And do you want to know the craziest part of the story? It worked! A mismatched collection of misfit parts, duct tape, and some good old fashion American ingenuity successfully created a filter that worked in a space ship! Amazing!
The men had to use the scraps they had to turn a bad situation into a good situation. That’s exactly what God wants us all to do-to use what we have to turn a bad situation into a good situation. Before we need more money, new policies, or different political leaders, we as Christians need to be faithful with what we have been entrusted with to transform the atmosphere around us. That’s exactly what happened in Judges 3.
During this stage in Israel’s history they did not have an earthly king because the King of Kings was their ruler. However, just is often the case today, the Israelites did not listen to the Lord nor His prophets which resulted in, “…all the people [doing] whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25, NLT).
As you could imagine, in a world where everybody did whatever they wanted and there were no rights or wrongs, Israel’s morals quickly became more corrupt than the mafia as their nation sank deeper and deeper into sin. But just like any good parent who sees their child injuring themselves by deliberately disobeying their instructions, Israel’s heavenly Father punished them by allowing other countries to raid Israel’s land.
Like clockwork throughout the 21 chapters of the book of Judges, when Israel was invaded by another country the Lord would raise up a “judge” who, with the divine help and power of God, would rescue Israel from their enemies with super hero type strength. Israel would temporarily turn from their sins, “But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways” (Judges 2:19, NIV).
Get in trouble, cry out for help, get saved, repeat.
This was the Israelites’ slogan during the time of Shamgar. You do know who Shamgar is, don’t you? It’s ok if you don’t. The man with the odd name was given a grand total of one verse in the entire Bible. But success is not determined by how much or how little you have been given but rather what you do with what you have. College football Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz said it this way, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.” And to say that Shamgar responded well to the hand that was dealt to him would be an understatement of massive proportions.
“After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel” (Judges 3:31, NIV).
Obviously from one verse, we don’t know a whole lot about Shamgar. We don’t know where he was born. We don’t know who his mom was. We don’t know if he was married. We don’t know how old he was when this story occurred. We don’t know how big, strong, or fast he was. All we know is that Shamgar was likely a herdsman because he had an oxgoad which was used to drive cattle.
It’s likely that this farmer wasn’t a trained soldier or a skilled fighter but that didn’t stop Shamgar from doing what he could with what he had. So with his oxgoad in hand and of course the help of God Almighty, Shamgar took his stand and killed 600 trained Philistine soldiers and saved an entire nation with a piece of farm equipment.
Shamgar didn’t look around for the Israeli army, wait for his friends to come to his aid, or run back home to grab a real weapon. He used what he had where he was to deliver God’s people. He didn’t let what he could not control get in the way of what he could control.
Whether you’re a student, a stay-at-home mom, or a Navy Seal, your occupation is your oxgoad. And just as Shamgar used his oxgoad and the men at NASA in Apollo 13 used the spaceship’s resources, God desires for you to use what you have where you are to extend His kingdom.
It doesn’t matter how much or little you know, how much or little money you have, or how young or old you are. With a willing heart and a capable, able, and all-powerful God on your side (Romans 8:31), anything is possible. Your life can turn around, your family can come back together, and an entire nation can be saved when just one person-with the help of God-decides to use their oxgoad for His purposes.
Will you be that one person today?
“The world has yet to see what God can do
with a man fully consecrated to Him.” –DL Moody
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
