A JAW DROPPING VICTORY
From Judges 15:15 we read, “And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.”
A JAW DROPPING VICTORY! Have you ever noticed that when something needs fixing around the house and you don’t have the right tool, you’ll use whatever is handy? Like trying to open a paint can and not being able to find a screwdriver, so you reach into your pocket and use your car key. Was it made for that? No. But when it’s all you’ve got, you make it work. Or maybe you’ve used a butter knife to tighten a screw because you didn’t want to walk all the way out to the garage for a screwdriver. Sound familiar? Was that butter knife made for that job? Of course not. But when it’s available and you’re in a hurry, you make do with what you have. That’s exactly what Samson did in our verse for today. He didn’t have a sword. He didn’t have a spear. All he could find was the jawbone of a dead donkey and a God who can use anything. And when that jawbone was placed in the hands of a man empowered by God, it became more than enough.
BAD TO THE BONE. After a great victory over the Philistines, Samson suddenly found himself surrounded by a thousand enemy soldiers. He had no weapon to defend himself. No sword. No spear. No shield. Humanly speaking, he didn’t have a chance. He was toast. Then the Bible says, “And he found a new jawbone of an ass…”
God used an old, thrown to the side, bone to win a mighty victory. WOW! Isn’t it amazing what God can do with something that seems useless? The jawbone wasn’t much to look at. It had once belonged to a dead, rotting carcass of a donkey. Yet when God put it in Samson’s hand, it became a weapon of victory.
LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD’S IN IT!
That sounds like many of us. We often feel ordinary, insignificant, and unqualified. We look at our abilities and think, “I don’t have much to offer God.” But God specializes in using unlikely people and unexpected things. He used a shepherd’s sling, a widow’s little pot of oil, a boy’s lunch, and fishermen from Galilee. God delights in taking what seems small and using it to accomplish something great.
IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU DO HAVE.
Notice something else. Samson didn’t stand there complaining about what he lacked. He simply picked up what was available and used it. Many people spend their lives wishing they had someone else’s talents, opportunities, or abilities. We think, “I’m not like him. I’m not like her. I’m not as gifted as they are. I could never do what they do.” Meanwhile, God says, “Use what’s already in your hand.” Moses had a rod. David had a sling. Samson had a jawbone. The issue is never how much we have. The issue is whether we’re willing to place what we have in God’s hands.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOUR ABILITY. The jawbone also reminds us that victory comes from God’s power, not our limited strength and resources. Nobody could explain away Samson’s victory. One man defeating a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone? The only explanation was God did it!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Perhaps today you feel like an overlooked jawbone. You think your best days are behind you. You feel weak, ordinary, and useless. Stop it! When God gets hold of something ordinary, it doesn’t stay ordinary for long. He has a way of using little things to do big things. Little is much when God is in it.
What is in your hand today? Give it to God and watch what He can do with it. One jawbone in the hand of a surrendered man became a mighty weapon because anything placed in God’s hands becomes more than enough for a jaw-dropping victory!
Amen?! Think it over… 🙏