All In by Mark Batterson

Author:Mark Batterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2014-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Judges 3:31

In 1963, Edward Lorenz theorized that a minor event like the flapping of a butterfly’s wing in Brazil could conceivably alter wind currents sufficiently to cause a tornado in Texas. His theory took off in the academic community and became known to the general public as the butterfly effect.

The theory was the result of a computer program that Lorenz designed to be able to forecast weather. On the day of his accidental discovery, Lorenz had to hurry out of his office for a meeting. Instead of entering a number he used on previous trials, he rounded it up. Lorenz figured that a change of one one-thousandth of 1 percent would be inconsequential. He figured wrong. He came back and the tiny change simulated a massively catastrophic event in weather. According to Lorenz, the numerical difference between the original number and the rounded number was the equivalent of a puff of wind, but the net difference was the equivalent of a catastrophic weather event.

Lorenz came to a simple conclusion: minuscule changes in input can make a huge difference in output.

It’s true in science. It’s true in life!

That simple discovery can totally change your life. It can radically alter your spiritual, emotional, relational, or financial forecast. It can change the atmosphere in your studies, job, and friendships.

You don’t have to make one hundred changes. All that does is divide your energy by one hundred and results in a 1 percent chance of success. You have to be 100 percent committed to one change. It will take an all-out effort. And it will probably be the hardest thing you’ve ever done! But that one change has the potential to make a 100 percent difference in your life.

One Risk

One sentence.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

That’s the only attention Shamgar gets in Scripture. But look again — this one line tells me everything I need to know about him. One farm tool and one decision end up saving the entire nation of Israel. This one risk was a huge deal.

Israel was in spiritual anarchy and political tyranny. They did some straight-up evil and their punishment was enslavement to the Philistines, who ruled with intimidation and fear. But one man refused to be ruled by that fear. Next to David, Shamgar has to rank as one of history’s most improbable heroes. And just like the shepherd-turned-king, this farmer-turned-warrior transformed this makeshift cattle prod into a weapon of war. I don’t think Shamgar had a clue while he was driving oxen that God would turn his oxgoad into the instrument of Israel’s deliverance.

Shamgar was a one-man army. All he had was an oxgoad, which was basically a long stick. But he knew that if God was for him, no one could stand against him. So Shamgar grabbed his oxgoad and charged the enemy armies. He looked as dumb as David coming at Goliath with a dinky slingshot.

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