What are you fighting for?

Judges 3:31
'After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.'

I don't know about you, but I've not heard of this guy, Shamgar before. This is the only reference. However, what a lot it tells us!
If only one sentence were to sum up your life, this would be a pretty cool sentence! Shamgar killed 600 Philistines, not for fun, but to fight for Israel.
How did he do it? With an oxgoad - a farming implement used to guide cattle (like a cattle prod). It has a pointy end, but not the most effective weapon for fighting with. Surely, God must of helped this Shamgar with that victory, a wooden stick with a pointy end is not what most soldiers would choose as a weapon. Especially considering that Shamgar was fighting the Philistines - known warriors who were oppressing the Israelites.

Little else is known of Shamgar, he is mentioned in Judges chapter 5, 'In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travellers kept to the byways.' So, it was a dangerous time in Israel, they had to sneak around to get from place to place. There must of been significant risk of harm - they couldn't travel along the well-known paths but had to go the long way round.

Shamgar lived in dangerous days.
What did he do about it?
He went out and fought.
He didn't hide away trembling with fear, he took what he had and fought for what was right. He had the most unlikely of weapons, but he could see that the oppression was wrong, so he stood up for what he believed in.
He fought, he led, he conquered. The result? 'he also saved israel'! What an amazing summing up of someone's life!

What amazing victories could you achieve if you stand up and fight?

You may feel like an unknown in the history of the world. To be honest, this guy Shamgar is pretty unknown - there's only a couple of sentences that give any information about him and there's not a lot else that is known, but what is known is the fact that Shamgar stood and fought for what he knew was right. Then look at the victory God led him into! 600 defeated and a whole nation saved! Wow!

Shamgar lived in dangerous times, but he didn't hide away, he stood up and fought.
This world can be a scary, lonely, dangerous place. With God on your side, and with the willingness to stand and fight who knows what victories you can win!
What sentence do you want to sum up your life? I doubt it will be the same, but you can also have impact. What are you going to stand up and fight for?