Looked Over, Left Out, Less Than

This is for the marginalized, the dis-enfranchised, the odd-balls and anyone else who feels like they don't fit in!

I heard a sermon this past Sunday by Steven Furtick titled "Concealed But Not Cancelled". You can pull it up on YouTube it's part of what I am basing this blog on which was also the topic in two groups led by me this week. One of his text points came from Judges 3:12-30, and I have added a bunch of commentary to it.

Less than 15% of the world's population is left-handed and there are mixed opinions on what being that way means but here's a sample: There's a right-handed bias in the design of tools,  left-handed people are subject to deliberate discrimination and discouragement and in some societies are considered unlucky, or even malicious by the right-handed majority. Other languages convey awkwardness, dishonesty, stupidity or other undesirable qualities about them. That could describe many of us who feel less than.

In the story of yet another deliverance for the Israelites, God chooses a left hander to free them from oppression. His name is Ehud from the tribe of Benjamin, that name meaning "son of my right hand' in Hebrew, and those Benjamites were considered a right-handed tribe. Ehud made a sword 18" long and concealed it the quiver on his right leg which is of course the opposite of where folks would get patted down who were right-handed. Smart!

Another characteristic of a left-hander is that they are creative and crafty. Long story made short, Ehud tricks everyone into leaving him and the king alone, kills him, walks out, blows his horn of triumph, then leads the Israelites in battle to defeat 10,000, and be set free for 80 years of peace.

Great story, and if you think about it God uses the looked over, left out and less than as he did in multiple situations in the Bible to accomplish his will. That's why alcoholics, addicts, felons, all the oddballs can have their weakness turned into a weapon by the Lord.

The Israelites were in captivity for 18 years so Ehud made a sword with an inch for every year of oppression. When you think about it it's about 18 inches from our head to our heart, and for those of us considered honorary "left-handers" that's the distance needing convincing that we are more than conquerors when he leads us.

My take on this extended to todays circumstances: God can take a felon who has fallen and turn them into a hero who is ballin'. Believe it, Ehud certainly did!

​