We can get so familiar with the stories of the bible that are most common. David and Goliath, Noah and the ark, Moses and the burning bush. But what about the uncommon stories. The ones they don't talk about in Sunday school. Today's bible story is found in the book of Judges. As usual, Israel sins, God sends a judge, everything becomes honky dory for a little while and then, Boom, back into sin. This time, it is worse than before and all of Israel is sinning once again. Well there was this king see, and he may not have been Ahab bad, but he wasn't good either. His name was Eglon, and he was not a nice dude. God sends this judge, named Ehud. There is something different about Ehud that makes him useful for this purpose. He is left- handed. You may be thinking, so what, half the population is ambidextrous. But see, Ehud was not only a judge, but also a legal sword carrier. Because he was left handed, his sword was positioned on his right side, as opposed to right handers who would have had their sword on the left. It makes much more sense for sword wielders because they can access their weapons much smoother. Anyway, left hand judge is told to go to the king, and the kings guards are not used to dealing with left handers, so they check his left side for a weapon, upon which, they find nothing and they permit him to see Eglon. Ehud tells the king, "Hey, you want to hear a secret straight from God?" Eglon of course said yes and commands his servants to leave them for few minutes. Ehud gets nice a close, pulls out his sword, and stabs it right into Eglon's stomach. As much as Eglon loved a good secret, he also loved food, and was therefore a very large, fat dude. So large in fact, that Ehud's sword was swallowed up among the king's entails. Ehud excuses himself out of the kings window and leaves the king to die in his own fat. The king's servants, after some time, think among themselves that it has been so long he must be relieving himself. After a little longer of embarrassing long wait, the servants rush into the room to find their beloved king dead surrounded by his intestines and insides, with the killer long gone. Wow, and we wonder why that story is not popular in kids church. But that doesn't take away from the importance of it. When Ehud was born, he probably thought himself to be weird for not writing and fighting with the same hand as his friends did, but then he grows up and is given a command from God. His difference was by God's grand design to be used for his purpose. If he was the same as everyone else, he never would have gotten in to see the king. God has given all of us different features that we might see as flaws that are actually the things that make us unique and special. Embrace your flaws and be on the watch for what God is going to do through your "abnormalities". God has a plan for all of us. Flaws and all.
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission
Photo credit- cartoonstock.com
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