Use What You Have to Do What You Can

Judges 3:31 KJV 1900

31 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.

Faith in the Fire: Standing Strong in Difficult Days

“Use What You Have to Do What You Can”

Text: Judges 3:31 Speaker: Rev. Adrian S. Taylor Setting: Springhill Church, 120 SE Williston Road Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025, 10:00 AM

Main Idea: God often chooses ordinary people in ordinary places with ordinary tools to accomplish extraordinary deliverance for His glory. When we place what is in our hands into His hands, the ordinary becomes a weapon, a witness, and a wonder.

Sermon Introduction

Church, sometimes God hides a whole storm of meaning in a single drop of Scripture. There are chapters that thunder and there are verses that whisper. Judges 3:31 is a whisper that shakes the earth. Tucked between the headlines of deliverers like Ehud and Deborah is a man with no long biography and no famous pedigree. His name is Shamgar. No shining sword, no polished spear, no military academy, no fanfare. All he had was a farmer’s tool, an ox goad, and a holy determination.

Have you ever noticed that God delights in doing much with little? Moses had a rod. David had a sling. A widow had a pot of oil. A boy had two fish and five loaves. The disciples had a borrowed room. And here in our text, a field worker has an ox goad. The world looks for better resources. God looks for a readied soul. The world asks, Do you have enough? God asks, Will you yield what you already have?

Springhill, in difficult days, God is still calling ordinary people to do extraordinary things with simple tools. You do not need a new name if you will give Him a new yes. You do not need a different life if you will offer Him your present life. The call today is simple. Use what you have to do what you can and watch God do what only He can.

Context of the Passage

The book of Judges records a cycle. Israel sins. God allows oppression. The people cry. God raises a deliverer. In the verse before our text, Ehud has just delivered Israel from Moab. Yet trouble never schedules an appointment. On Israel’s western border, the Philistines harass and raid. Commerce suffers. Courage shrinks. Deborah later sings, “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath… the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways” (Judges 5:6). People were scared to use the main roads. Bandits and enemy raiders terrorized God’s people. Into that fear walks Shamgar.

His name surfaces like a spark in the dark. No genealogy is traced. No royal mantle is mentioned. We are only told three things. He is the son of Anath. He killed six hundred Philistines. He delivered Israel. One verse, three facts, one great God.

I. His Moment: Seizing the Opportunity God Set Before Him

Judges 3:31 “31 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.”

An Uncelebrated Person: Shamgar is not a headline. He is not a household name. He stands in the shadows after Ehud and before Deborah. Yet God keeps time with more than famous clocks. The Lord who counts the stars also counts the steps of the faithful. Scripture says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God found a heart in the field named Shamgar.

An Unpromising Season: The days were dangerous. The highways were empty. The Philistines were bold. But difficulty is not a sign that God has disappeared. Difficulty is an altar where faith is offered. Paul said, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Trouble is the stage on which trust learns its lines. Shamgar stood up in a season when others sat down.

An Unmistakable Need: God’s people needed relief. Families needed safety. Worship needed space to breathe. This is not a story about personal fame. It is a story about public faithfulness. When the need is high, heaven looks for a heart that is ready.

Application at Springhill Beloved, your moment may not come with trumpets. It may come as a text from someone hurting. It may come as a classroom of restless students. It may come as a neighbor who is hungry. It may come as a ministry opening that looks too small to matter. Do not wait on a perfect season. If it is in front of you and it honors God, step toward it. This is your moment.

Call and Response: When God opens a moment, say, “Yes, Lord.” When fear says you are not enough, say, “Yes, Lord.” When the enemy rages, say, “Yes, Lord.”

II. His Means: Using the Tool Already in His Hand

Judges 3:31 “31 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.”

An ox goad is not a sword. It is a farmer’s staff, often six to eight feet, sharpened on one end to prod, with a flat scraper on the other to clean the plow. It is a workday tool. It belongs in a field, not a battlefield. Yet when God breathes on a tool, a field becomes a front line.

A Familiar Tool: Shamgar did not chase what he did not have. He gripped what he knew. God asked Moses, “What is that in thine hand?” and he said, “A rod” (Exodus 4:2). God asks Springhill today, What is already in your hand? A voice to comfort. A skill to build. A kitchen to feed. A business to employ. A pen to write. A song to lift. Use what you have.

A Faith-Filled Trust: The weapon did not make the man. The faith did. Scripture teaches, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God” (2 Corinthians 10:4). A simple tool in a surrendered hand is greater than a sophisticated weapon in a stubborn heart. When God is your aim and His glory your goal, He will guide your reach and multiply your results.

A Focused Task: Shamgar did not fight every battle in Israel. He fought the one in front of him. Sometimes we drown in the ocean of what we cannot change and ignore the puddle right by our feet. Start where your feet are. Aim where your eyes can see. Do what you can see to do. “Despise not the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10).

Application at Springhill What is our ox goad as a church? The gospel we preach. The love we show. The discipleship we practice. The ministries we build. The partnerships we steward. God is not limited by our budget when our hearts are surrendered to His mission. Let us put the gospel in our hands like an ox goad and drive back darkness in Gainesville.

Refrain: Use what you have. Use it where you are. Use it for the Lord.

III. His Mission: Delivering God’s People for God’s Glory

Judges 3:31 “31 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.”

A Personal Courage that Becomes Public BlessingCourage is contagious. One person’s stand becomes a people’s shelter. Joshua heard it, “Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:9). David lived it, “Is there not a cause” (1 Samuel 17:29). Shamgar showed it. When a believer moves by faith, families are blessed, neighborhoods feel it, churches grow stronger.

A Providential Outcome The verse is short because the emphasis is not Shamgar’s eloquence but God’s enablement. Deliverance belongs to the Lord. “The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). Shamgar did what he could. God did what only He could.

A Pattern for Us: Every believer is called to a Shamgar assignment. Your six hundred may not be Philistines. It may be six hundred prayers to pray. Six hundred students to teach across a career. Six hundred meals to cook in service. Six hundred visits to make. Six hundred gospel seeds to plant. Faithfulness multiplied over time becomes deliverance for a generation.

Application at Springhill As a church, our mission is clear. Preach Christ. Make disciples. Serve the city. Strengthen families. Lift the fallen. Encourage the weak. Stand for truth. If we will use what we have, right here at 120 SE Williston Road, God will write a deliverance story that echoes beyond Gainesville.

Practical Pathways: How to “Use What You Have” This Week

Identify Your Ox GoadName the skill, gift, or opportunity you already possess. Write it down. Thank God for it. Scriptures to anchor: 1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:6.

Sharpen Your Ox GoadTrain and steward what you have. Read the book. Take the course. Find a mentor. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Invest Your Ox GoadPut it to work in service. Join a ministry team. Tutor a student. Visit a sick neighbor. Give generously. Pray daily for a lost soul. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Involve Your FamilyMake mission a household habit. Pray together. Serve together. Invite together. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Increase Your FaithFeed your faith with the Word. Stand in the armor of God. “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Illustration

There is a story of a small-town carpenter who never had a famous name. He did not own the biggest shop. He could not afford the newest tools. But his work was careful, consistent, and consecrated to God. When a violent storm tore through the community, roofs were ripped, porches collapsed, and fear spread. While others waited on help from far away, that carpenter rose before dawn, loaded his old truck with the same tools he used every day, and went house to house. Hammer by hammer. Nail by nail. Board by board. He patched roofs, rebuilt steps, and strengthened beams. Before the city trucks rolled in, the sound of one man’s hammer had already restored hope on a dozen streets. Later, a neighbor said, “He did not save the whole city, but he saved our block.” Church, God is looking for men and women whose hammers of faith will sound in this city. Use what you have to do what you can.

Exegetical Notes for the Mind and the Heart

“After him” situates Shamgar in God’s sequence. Deliverance is often a relay. Faith passes the baton. Your assignment may be after someone else, and before another. Run your leg well.

“The son of Anath” may hint at a hardy background. We do not know much, but we know enough. God does not need our resume. He needs our resolve.

“Slew of the Philistines six hundred men” is not a boast in human strength. It is a witness to holy empowerment. As with David’s victories, the focus is God who trains hands for war and fingers for battle, not the statistics of the soldier.

“With an ox goad” reminds us that God uses workday tools. Expect God to anoint your Tuesday just as surely as He visits your Sunday.

“He also delivered Israel” ties personal courage to corporate salvation. Faith is personal but never private.

Cross references for meditation this week: Judges 5:6, Exodus 4:2, 1 Samuel 17:45–50, 2 Corinthians 10:4, Zechariah 4:10, Ephesians 6:10–18.

Pastoral Exhortation to Springhill

Springhill Church, we are a people with ox goads in our hands. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have love for one another. We have ministries that meet real needs. We have prayers that shake heaven. We have resources to steward. We have influence to use. Let us not wait for perfect. Let us not bow to fear. Let us step into our assignments. In your home, use what you have. On your job, use what you have. In your school, use what you have. In this church, use what you have. In this city, use what you have. Do what you can and trust God for what you cannot.

Gospel Turn

Someone may say, Pastor, I do not feel like a Shamgar. I feel more like a sinner in need of mercy. Hear the good news. Jesus Christ has done for us what no judge in Israel could do. He faced the enemy of our souls. He carried not an ox goad but a cross. He shed His blood for our sins, died, and rose on the third day. “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12). If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

Appeal and Altar Call

If you are ready to be saved, come. If you are ready to return to the Lord, come. If you need a church home where you can use what you have for God’s glory, Springhill welcomes you. Deacons and altar counselors are coming now. Ministers are standing by. We will pray with you, stand with you, and walk with you.

Closing Charge

Church, go in the strength of this word. Like Shamgar, seize your moment, use your means, fulfill your mission. Lift your tool and lift your voice. Use what you have to do what you can, and trust God to do what only He can.

Closing Prayer

Lord, take our ordinary and make it a testimony. Take our ox goads and turn them into instruments of deliverance. Use Springhill Church to bless Gainesville and beyond. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Benediction

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Numbers 6:24–26, KJV