Read Judges 3:12-30

God Can Use Your Weaknesses

We can come up with excuses all day long. “I’m too this” or “I’m too that.” “I can’t do this.” “I don’t have the ability to do that.” Certainly, we should know our limitations so we don’t get ourselves in over our heads, but at the same time we must recognize the power of God to use even our weaknesses to His glory!

The writer of Judges points out a weakness of Ehud, the judge whom God raised up to deliver His people from Eglon king of Moab. Ehud was “a left-handed man” (Judges 3:15). Now, before I get a dozen hateful emails from able-bodied left-handed men, let me explain. The original Hebrew language means more than just “left-handed.” In some way, Ehud was hindered from using his right hand. Strong’s explains that the word means, “shut up, i.e. impeded (as to the use of the right hand).” Coffman explains that “Ehud’s right hand might have been crippled or inured. At any rate, it was ‘tied up’ or ‘bound.’”

Occasionally we hear the boast of a person who says, “I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back!” That’s exactly what Ehud did. Despite the inability to use his right hand at all, or perhaps because of it, he was able to defeat Israel’s enemy and deliver the people.

If Ehud had the use of both of his hands, would the king’s servants have left him alone with Eglon? Certainly, a man with “one hand tied behind his back” could do no harm to the king. Ehud used that misconception to his advantage, assassinating the king in private.

After some time, Eglon’s servants came to look for him and found the doors of the chamber locked. They assumed he was relieving himself, and Ehud used the extra time to escape. The servants waited and waited “till they were embarrassed” before finally making entry to check on the king, whom they found dead.

Ehud had accomplished his mission, and God had used the judge’s weakness to his advantage. Not only was the mission successful, Ehud gave the proper credit to God: “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand” (Judges 3:28). Don’t doubt the power of God, and don’t forget to give Him the glory!