GIFTED SERMON 2

Gifted — Sermon #2
Ehud: The Left-Handed Deliverer
Bible Text: Judges 3:12–14

As we continue our series on spiritual gifts, I want to begin tonight by asking a very simple but very personal question:
Have you ever felt like something about you makes you stand out, but not in a good way?
Maybe you feel like you are not as smart as others.
Maybe you do not sing as well as others.
Maybe you do things differently than most people.
Or maybe you feel like you just do not have what others seem to have.
If you have ever felt that way, I want to introduce you to a man in the Bible who likely felt the same way.
When God’s People Are in Trouble
In Judges chapter 3, we find the nation of Israel in a very difficult place. They had disobeyed God, and as a result, they found themselves under the rule of an ungodly king for eighteen long years. His name was Eglon, king of Moab.
Once again, God’s people were experiencing the consequences of turning away from Him, and once again, they cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 3:12–14

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.”

They were desperate. They were defeated. And they were ready for God to move.
God’s Unexpected Choice
In the very next verse, we read something powerful.
Judges 3:15

“But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.”

God answered their prayer — but not in the way most people would have expected. He raised up a deliverer named Ehud, and the Bible specifically points out that he was left-handed.
In Bible times, being left-handed was often seen as a weakness or even a handicap, especially for a soldier. Men were trained for right-handed combat. Weapons were carried on the left side so they could be drawn with the right hand across the body. Because of this, guards were trained to check the left side for weapons when people passed through security.
But Ehud was different.
God used what others saw as a weakness as part of His plan.
Ehud made a small dagger and hid it on his right side instead of the left. When he went through the security check, the guards did not find it. He was allowed to go in and present a gift to the king. And it was there that God used this left-handed man to defeat a wicked ruler and begin Israel’s deliverance.

Ehud obeyed God, escaped safely, and Israel went on to defeat Moab. According to Judges 3:30, the land had rest for eighty years.
One obedient person changed the future of an entire nation.
When God Uses What We Call Weakness
What we often see as a weakness in our lives may be exactly what God wants to use to bring victory to our family, our church, or even our community.
Ehud did not wait to be like everyone else.
He used what made him different to make a difference.
He was not famous.
He was not highly trained.
But he was willing to do what God asked him to do.

It reminds me of David. When others saw a shepherd boy, God saw a king. David was nearly overlooked, but God had already chosen him for something greater.
So let me ask it this way:
What if the very thing you think disqualifies you is the thing God wants to use?
What if obedience matters more to God than confidence?

An Illustration: The Gloves
I was recently in New York, and I had a pair of gloves that kept my hands warm in the cold temperatures. Those same gloves would also protect my hands if I were working in the yard and keep me from getting splinters. I could even use them to take something hot out of the oven and keep from getting burned.
Now imagine if I put those gloves on the wrong hands — the right glove on the left hand and the left glove on the right hand. It would look unusual, maybe even silly, but they would still work. They would still keep my hands warm. They would still protect me from splinters. They would still protect me from heat.
Just because something is unusual does not mean it is unusable.
And just because someone serves differently than we do does not mean God is not using them. In fact, God may be orchestrating their unusual service to accomplish something miraculous.
God wants to use you just as you are — right-handed or left-handed, tall or short, educated or uneducated.
God Has Always Used Unlikely People

All throughout Scripture, God uses people who do not seem to fit the usual mold.
In Exodus, there were Bezalel and Aholiab, craftsmen who built the tabernacle. They were not prophets or priests, but they were essential to the work of God.
Rahab hid the spies in the book of Joshua.
In John chapter 6, a little boy simply gave his lunch to Jesus, and God used it to feed a multitude.
In Jeremiah chapter 36, Baruch the scribe carefully copied and preserved the Word of God, and we are still blessed by his behind-the-scenes work today.
Not everyone stands in front of crowds, but everyone can be used by God.

Closing Challenge
As we think about Ehud and all these others, here is the question I want to leave with you:
What are some ways — even unusual ways — that God may want to use you to encourage others, invest in people, or share the gospel?
God is not limited by what we lack.
He is glorified by our obedience.
And He delights in using people who are willing to say yes, even when they feel different or overlooked.
In God’s hands, what seems unusual can become unstoppable.