overcoming our past
“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.” -Judges 11:29a
We have all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardships during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans without parents, losing a parent in a fatal accident, childhood illness – these are all difficult situations to overcome.
Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to stop him from becoming great in the eyes of God. He was born in Gilead, a result of his father’s adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Jephthah’s half-brothers decided to reject Jephthah, and cast him out of their house, saying, “You will not inherit any of our family because you are the son of another woman.” Imagine how much rejection this young man felt when he was shunned from his own family.
This experience taught Jephtha to be a tough warrior. Today he might have been part of a street gang. As he grew up, his reputation as a warrior became known to his countrymen, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to become their commander. Jephtha had to fight feelings of rejection from the previous years.
“Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father’s house?” He replied. He overcame his hurt and pain and answered God’s call on his life.
It is said that if we help the butterfly to get out of the cocoon, the butterfly will not be strong enough to survive. It is this struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, she could not survive as a butterfly.
The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. It appears that some of our childhoods were harsh and were born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and if we follow Him with a true heart He will make our lives an instrument in His hand. He makes all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.
