I will admit that sometimes things happen and I have no clue as to why. Why did this relative pass away? Why did I loose my job? Why? Why? Why? I have spent many nights wondering why and have come to the conclusion that I am not suppose to have the answer of why, I am suppose to move forward with the understanding that God is control. Other times it is clear that I have put my family or myself in a particular situation that could have been avoided if I had only kept quiet or did not leap to conclusions without all the facts. Those situations are the most disheartening as a father, a husband, and dad.
Jephthah was the son of a prostitute and was outcast by his own family when they became young men. Because he was cast out, he wound up living in the desert where a group of “scoundrels” followed him. As side note for all you leaders out there: leaders are followed. You cannot get the title of a leader and command people to follow you. It simply does not happen like that. Jesus never commanded his disciples to follow Him, he simply asked and they followed Him. Jephthah was a leader. We can infer this because the Bible tells us that he was followed. Even so, when the Ammonites came to make war with Gilead, the people of the region asked for Jephthah to lead them into war, which he does and the Lord gives him a great victory. The people of Gilead promised to make him their ruler if he accepted this job. This is where the story goes wonky and you have to read it twice to understand.
Jephthah goes to the Lord and makes a vow before he fights the Ammonites. He says in chapter 11 verse 30-31, “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Yep, I had to read this twice. Funny how we sometimes make bargains with the Lord. “If you do this then I will do that.” Everything was going great for Jephthah, the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him to fight the Ammonites and from reading Judges we know when this happens a great victory will come. So why does he make this vow? We don’t know for sure.
After the victory over the Ammonites, Jephthah comes home to find his only daughter running through door and dancing. Jephthah is crushed. Remember his vow? I had to read this twice also. Jephthah had to sacrifice his only daughter as a burnt offering. He does so and to this day it is an Israelite tradition that each year young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.
Like I said sometimes we just ask why? I have learned that if we cannot seem to understand what is causing the chaos in our lives, then the Lord is putting us through a trial. Remember James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” I should count it all joy then I see the trial coming. Satan tempts us and accuses us in these moments. Like he said to Eve, “did God really say?” In times like these, we better know the Bible because Jesus overcame Satan by using it as we should. We should know what it says and be ready to fight.
The moral of this weird and sad Bible story is that we can do nothing to deserve redemption. Salvation is a gift from the Lord and we are saved by grace that no man should boast. We should never make these kind of vows before God. “If you do this then I will do that” kind of vows. We should all humble ourselves and go boldly before the throne of God knowing that Jesus’ blood is enough. God does not make deals with us. He sent His only son to die on the cross so we could be close to Him in heaven. So today if you find yourself like Jephthah making these vows before the Lord just stop. Stop vowing this and vowing that, vowing you will never do this or that ever again if only the Lord does this or that. It is foolishness. The Lord will clean you up by His Spirit working in you if you will humble yourself and follow Him. Stop making vows before God, just accept Him and realize that your vow is foolish. He loves you and like a loving father, he will run to you and embrace you when He sees you far off on your way home.
Let It Go 
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