Verse of the Day: Isaiah 53:3-4 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
Memory of the month: And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" —Luke 24:32
Today's reading: JUDGES 11-12 LUKE 6:1-26
In The Middle of My Need
(I am not writing on my need alone. The title is meant to make this personal to you as well as to me.)
We have prayed for God to meet folks in the middle of their need. The message here is that we need to meet God in the middle of our need. I need to meet God in the middle of my need. God is already here and said He would be right here until the end of the age, Matthew 28:20.
Today's reading in Judges tells of a judge of Israel named Jephthah who was the daughter of a prostitute. He had been driven away from home by his brothers so he could not lay claim to anything that belonged to his father because of his mother. He had become a leader of bandits and a great fighter. The Ammonites attacked and his brothers went crying to Jephtah to come home and do the fighting for them and Jephthah did.
Can you imagine the chip on his shoulder? He had become a great fighter and leader and though he was a bandit was a man of his word. He was also good at bargaining and made a deal with God. If God would give him victory, he would sacrifice the first thing he saw as he returned home. It sounded like a good deal to him at the time. But why did he not trust God enough to know that God was with Him(Judges 11:29) and would grant Jephthah victory without the 'deal'?
He had only one child. God gave Jephthah victory. Jephthah went home only to see his daughter first and he was a man of his word...
What a tragedy. A proud man with a chip on his shoulder-a man with all the answers(Judges 11:15-27). A man with something to prove. With everything at stake, he thought a little insurance would seal the deal and so made a vow to God-an vow not needed. A vow from weak faith. Leverage-we hear it all the time. Leverage-something only the world uses.
We need no leverage with God. He demands nothing of the sort. He just wants us to meet Him in the middle of our need in humility. He gives us the strength to remove all chips from our shoulders-all our opinions and preconceived ideas-we come before God completely naked and humble. Our strength and cunning are left outside. God is the author of our victory and the strength in our limbs and the answer to all our need.
No deals-no vows-only trust-this is what God demands. Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8&9 says we have been saved by grace through faith-nothing from us-it is all a gift. He wants us to take the faith and use it in His grace and trust Him with our lives.
God wants us to trust Him and know He is always in the center of our lives-whether we notice it or realize it-and is there waiting in the middle of our need for us to ask for the help that is already there.
Repeat this with me: "God is in the middle of my need. God is in the middle of my need..."
Where am I in relation to God's righteousness? Where am I in response to the command to seek God and His righteousness? Am I making deals with Him from my weak grasp of the faith He has provided?
"God, if you'll do this, I'll never do this again"; or, "God if You will do this for me or my children, I will give You everything"
Jephthah made a deal, a vow, he did not have to make and lost it all. He judged for six more years and died and was buried at home in Gilead-but through it all, although it is not recorded in scripture, I believe his greatest regret was that vow he made.
Don't make promises to God. He does not want vows. He wants our trust and love.
...because He loves us...
Father in Heaven,
Forgive me for bargaining with You. Teach me how to trust You fully. Increase my faith.
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