Scripture: Judges 3:7-11

The book of Judges, which talks about wars and warriors, makes us feel that we are reading about heroes whose power is beyond the ability of those we see in movies and read in comics. We read about Deborah, Barak, Gideon, and Samson in Judges. In that list of judges, we read about Othniel as well. His life is explained in short and direct in Judges 3:7-11. We don’t see any dramatic incident or massive power in that passage. But we read what God did through Othniel. 

Verse 9 says, the Lord raised up a deliverer. Verse 10 says, The Spirit of the Lord came upon him…the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. 

These things mentioned about Othniel help us focus our minds on the most important thing – God’s power. Interesting stories and the heroes in them blind our eyes from seeing God’s power. We focus wholly on those heroes and miss focusing on God’s power. When I was young, I wanted to be the most talented one because I thought of pulling people toward God using my talents. But I realized that I was wrong. God uses the weak and the simple to manifest His power. The light that shines from our lives pulls people towards God’s love (Matthew 5:16). When others see our lives, they should see God in it, not us. Let’s keep that in mind.