The Poo is Providential

Jul 05, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Fashionable Shoes Leave Blisters on Your Soul

Compromise often masquerades as something desirable—like stylish shoes that promise confidence but leave wounds. Israel repeatedly chose what looked good over what God declared good, trading freedom for fleeting approval. Their 18-year oppression under Moab reveals how spiritual compromise numbs us to captivity. Like ill-fitting shoes, sin’s temporary appeal hides its destructive cost. The longer we walk in compromise, the deeper the scars. [32:47]

“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil, the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.”
(Judges 3:12, NIV)

Reflection: What compromise have you tolerated because it “looked good,” and how has it slowly eroded your freedom? Where is God inviting you to trade temporary comfort for lasting obedience?

Day 2: The Advantage of Being a Southpaw in a Right-Handed World

Ehud’s left-handedness wasn’t a flaw—it was a strategic advantage. While others saw limitation, God saw opportunity. His “weakness” became the means of deliverance when he strapped a dagger where no one expected. Society often dismisses what’s unconventional, but God specializes in using the overlooked. Your quirks, scars, or perceived inadequacies are divine tools in disguise. [39:02]

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
(1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV)

Reflection: What unique trait or experience do you downplay that God might want to weaponize for His purposes? How can you offer it to Him today?

Day 3: Divine Strategy in a Sack of Spuds

When the USS O’Bannon’s crew threw potatoes, they used what they had, not what they wished they had. Ehud’s homemade dagger and Ehud’s left hand seemed insufficient—until God showed up. Miracles happen when we stop waiting for perfect resources and start using ordinary obedience. Your “potato” may look unimpressive, but in God’s hands, it becomes a grenade. [43:41]

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’”
(Exodus 4:2-3, NIV)

Reflection: What ordinary resource, skill, or opportunity are you undervaluing because it doesn’t feel “spiritual enough”? How could acting on it today shift your situation?

Day 4: When God’s Protection Comes with an Itch

Corrie Ten Boom’s fleas—like Ehud’s escape through sewage—remind us God often works through messes, not despite them. We beg God to remove irritations, not realizing they’re shielding us or creating divine appointments. What if your greatest frustration is actually guarding your freedom? Sanctification isn’t sterile—it’s found in the grime of trust. [59:23]

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV)

Reflection: What current “mess” have you resented that God might be using to protect or position you? How could gratitude reshape your perspective?

Day 5: One Yes That Silenced a Thousand Nos

Ehud’s single act of courage stripped Israel of excuses. His irreversible obedience forced a nation off the sidelines. Your “yes” to God doesn’t just change your story—it pressures others to abandon their complacency. Delayed obedience often stems from fearing the fallout, but radical faith creates holy momentum. [01:02:58]

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
(Isaiah 6:8, NIV)

Reflection: What step of obedience have you delayed because you’re waiting for others to act first? How might your courage today dismantle someone else’s excuses tomorrow?

Sermon Summary

Judges traces a cycle that fits like a pair of cool shoes that blister the feet. Israel does evil in the Lord’s sight, abandons God, gets handed over, finally cries out, and God saves by sending a judge. The text presses the point that compromise looks good at first and then eats the soul raw as time goes on. Eighteen years under Eglon shows how sin fattens into a king in the heart when captivity starts to feel normal.

God raises Ehud, a left-handed man from Benjamin, the son of the right hand. That irony becomes strategy. The left hand hides a dagger on the right thigh where no guard expects a blade. The passage shows a deliverer who is not a general, just the guy who carries tribute, who uses what is in his hand. The story’s steady contrast grows sharp: Eglon lounges in a cool upper room while Israel labors in the heat. The king’s girth reads like a parable of greed, a body built from stolen grain, a heart dulled by comfort. Comfort makes a person careless.

Gilgal’s stone idols quietly set the trap. When Ehud returns “from the idols,” Eglon assumes a private word from the gods and clears the room. The left hand reaches across, and the hidden blade disappears into the belly. Then providence shows up in practical ways. The locked doors, the smell, and the latrine become a fog that buys time. The “mess” itself turns into mercy. The text refuses tidy deliverance and insists that God will use anything, even what the faithful beg Him to remove, to set captives free.

Ehud then sounds the trumpet. Israel’s starved farmers face Moab’s strongest, and the math does not add up. But the same appetite that ruined the king has swollen the army. For eighteen years God has been fattening the enemy for defeat. The narrative finally pivots from one man’s hidden obedience to a nation’s public courage. One irreversible yes removes everyone else’s excuse. The story calls the church to throw the potato, to use whatever God has placed in hand, then trust God to send the fog. God never asks for enough. God asks for a yes.

Key Takeaways

1. Compromise fits like bad shoes Compromise always sells a look and hides a limp. It starts as a small, manageable rub and ends as a wound that shapes every step. The text warns that what feels tolerable today will rule tomorrow if left unchecked. Israel’s eighteen years under Eglon is what happens when blisters become calluses on the soul. [32:47]
2. God uses what’s in hand Ehud is not resourced like a general; he is equipped like a courier. Yet the left hand and the homemade dagger, hidden where no one looks, become precisely the tool God uses. Vocation, wiring, even oddities can be appointed for deliverance when placed in obedience. Throw the potato and stop waiting for a shinier sword. [41:28]
3. Comfort can make faith careless Eglon’s cool room and full belly read like a diagnosis. Abundance without gratitude numbs vigilance and invites vulnerability. When a person feasts on what is not theirs, hunger for God dies first. The story warns that ease, unexamined, will open the door to a left hand and a right-thigh blade. [46:49]
4. Providence meets practiced obedience Ehud crafts the dagger, plans the entry, locks the doors, and heads for the latrine. Then God sends the “fog” in the form of delay, smell, and misread signals. The pattern is steady: do what obedience can do, then watch providence do what only God can do. Fate is not the point, but faithful preparation meeting timely mercy is. [49:23]
5. Obedience removes others’ excuses A single yes at Gilgal becomes a trumpet that forces a nation off the sidelines. Private faithfulness in hidden rooms becomes public courage on the ridge. When someone finally moves, spectators lose the luxury of delay. Ehud’s step dragged Israel into the will of God and shut the door on staying the same. [62:29]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[30:59] - Shoes, fireworks, and a setup
[32:47] - Compromise like ill-fitting shoes
[34:01] - The Judges cycle and God’s odds
[35:18] - Eighteen years under Eglon
[36:45] - God raises left-handed Ehud
[40:25] - The right-thigh dagger detail
[41:28] - Potatoes and using what’s at hand
[43:41] - Throw the potato, trust the fog
[45:01] - Assassination in the cool room
[46:49] - Comfort that makes faith careless
[49:23] - Washington’s fog and providence
[52:10] - Latrine escape and unlikely mercy
[56:42] - Corrie Ten Boom and the fleas
[62:29] - Obedience that moves a nation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Judges 3:12-30 (ESV)
12 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel... 15 Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man... 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly... 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.

Observation questions

What specific details about Ehud’s background and actions made him an unlikely deliverer for Israel (Judges 3:15-16)?
How does the author contrast King Eglon’s physical and spiritual condition with Israel’s oppression (Judges 3:17, 20-22)? [46:49]
What role did the stone idols at Gilgal play in Ehud’s strategy (Judges 3:19, 26)? [53:12]

Interpretation questions

Why might the author emphasize Ehud’s left-handedness and tribe (Benjamin, meaning “son of the right hand”) as part of God’s strategy?
How does the imagery of Eglon’s “cool upper room” versus Israel’s labor in the heat reveal the dangers of unchecked comfort? [45:48]
The “fog” metaphor in the sermon refers to God’s providence working through unexpected means (like the latrine escape). How does this align with the idea that “God uses what’s in hand”? [52:10]

Application questions

Compromise often starts small but becomes a “king” ruling our hearts. What compromise have you tolerated that now feels “normal,” and how has it shaped your choices? [32:47]
Ehud used his unique traits (left-handedness, hidden dagger) for God’s purpose. What “odd” skill, experience, or limitation do you have that God might want to use for others’ good? [41:28]
The sermon says, “God will use anything, even what the faithful beg Him to remove, to set captives free.” When has a “mess” in your life (pain, delay, limitation) turned into an opportunity for God to work? [59:46]
Ehud’s obedience forced Israel to act. Is there a “yes” God is asking of you that could inspire others to follow Him? What excuses are you clinging to? [01:02:29]
Comfort can numb our spiritual hunger. What habits or comforts in your life might be making you careless about relying on God? [46:49]

Sermon Clips

48s

#OneStepObedience

“``One man's obedience, Ehud's obedience, one big step forced an entire nation off the sidelines and into the will of God. God uses whatever he wants to set his people free. He can use a left handed man with a dagger. He can use fleas. He can use an unnatural fog, and he can use eighteen years of captivity to fatten an army for defeat. He'll use your mess. He'll use your limitations, and he will use what's in your life that you don't even think is usable, But you've gotta throw the potato and then trust him to send the fog.”

45s

#FleasForFreedom

“That none of the guards wanted anything to do with barracks twenty eight because they knew how severe the flea infestation was. The very thing that Corey had begged God to take away was a thing God was using to give them their freedom. The mess bought Ehud his freedom. The fleas bought Corey the protection to share the gospel. Why do we assume that God's will has to be tidy clean and easy in order for it to be something from God? Because God will use anything he wants to give us freedom, and often what he will use is the very thing you're asking him to take away.”

58s

#ThrowThePotato

“That seems unlikely. Right? I mean, nobody would have thought we have no weapons, but the best thing we can do right now is throw a potato. But they used what was in their hands, and that weapon became exactly what they needed. That's what we see with Ehud. He's not a guy that has some general sword. He doesn't have a warrior reputation. What he has is a left hand and apparently the ability to craft a dagger and hide it on his leg. He just used what he had, what God placed in his hand. What's your potato? What's the thing that God has given you that you keep explaining away saying, God, I don't know enough yet, or I'm not prepared enough yet, or credentialed enough. You could use somebody more polished. God has put something in your hand for you to use, and he's commanded you to serve him. Are you making excuses? Just throw the potato because God's given you what you need to say yes to him.”

50s

#OneObedienceChangesAll

“Because what Ehud did, it started off just him. Nobody saw when he was at the house building his weapon. Nobody saw when he was in the private room killing the king, but everybody saw when he stood on the mountain and sounded the trumpet. And the nation of Israel realized now no was not an option. That Ehu did the irreversible thing. He killed the enemy king, and now they had no choice but to fight. They couldn't say no anymore because one person's obedience took away everyone else's excuse. Do you think there's a chance that there's somebody in this room or somebody in your life that's watching and waiting to see what you're gonna do.”

68s

#ComfortBreedsCarelessness

“That this king is is filling himself with what's not his. He's taking the grain. He's taking the labor. He's taking the resources of other people, and he's filling himself on on their on their resources, on what they have. He takes it all, and he's living off of this. And and while I do think that, yeah, that, yeah, it's probably smack talk, yes, I also think it's a metaphor. I think also you need to understand that this is a spiritual condition that's being described that I think creeps into all of our lives. That we very easily can become full off of what we can accumulate and what we can build to the point we're no longer desperate for God. That we're no longer on our knees praying and seeking God like we need him in our lives, that our comfort can make us careless when it comes to our faith. And that's exactly what we can see here with Eglon, that he is not desperate for a God whatsoever. That his comfort makes him careless. He leaves himself vulnerable to a left handed dude with a right leg strapped sword and a plan.”

52s

#CryOutForFreedom

“So you can see how much longer this time around. They stayed in this oppression. Eighteen years. That means their graduating high schoolers had only known what it was like to be oppressed by Moab. That was all they knew. Why did they wait so long? Well, they had gotten used to their compromise, accustomed to their captivity, to the point that that they had embraced it so much their compromise became a king in their life. But finally, after eighteen years, they finally can't take it anymore, and they cry out to God. That's where it starts. That you have to recognize you can no longer tolerate what is happening. No longer tolerate the compromise you have. You can't take it anymore physically. You can't take it anymore mentally. You can't take it anymore emotionally. You can't take it anymore spiritually. And so the response is that you have to ask for help.”

42s

#ObedienceIsContagious

“That it seems over these eighteen years that the king wasn't the only one who was living off of the labor and the resources and the grain of the Israelite people. In these eighteen years, the exact same sin, the exact same spiritual condition of the king infected the army as well. They all became Eglon, and the sin and compromise that got him killed in a private room got the army slaughtered on the battlefield. What God was doing for eighteen years was fattening that army for defeat. And the compromise of their king was not the only thing that was contagious because I think Ehud's obedience was contagious as well.”

42s

#CompromiseLeavesBlisters

“I tell you, I know what it's like because, honestly, these boots, they're awful, but I think they look cool. So I'm wearing three pairs of socks right now to tolerate them, but, you know, fashion, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But, mean, I we we we make the excuse. Right? We we try and pretend like it's not that big of a deal in the name of fashion or in the name of finance, but then you spend the rest of the day, like, kinda having to adjust every now and then as you're walking around and and and you start limping eventually. And then when you get home and take those shoes off at the end of the night, there's no skin left on your foot. It's just one giant blister. That's what compromise does in our life.”

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The Poo is Providential

Devotional

Day 1: When Fashionable Shoes Leave Blisters on Your Soul

Day 2: The Advantage of Being a Southpaw in a Right-Handed World

Day 3: Divine Strategy in a Sack of Spuds

Day 4: When God’s Protection Comes with an Itch

Day 5: One Yes That Silenced a Thousand Nos

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

The Poo is Providential

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