I hate being wrong. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can all make that statement with conviction and integrity. I have yet to meet anyone who goes around saying, “I just wish someone would correct me today!” We work hard at our jobs and responsibilities. We grow in our knowledge and confidence. We enjoy being able to speak with a certain level of authority given by our grasp of a specific topic. It only takes 2.3 seconds on Facebook or Twitter to realize people really enjoy sharing how much they know, whether or not they really have any knowledge.
Jephthah was a valiant warrior. He had been pushed out by his own family, yet grew as a soldier and leader. When asked to return and lead his people, he had to feel that his justification had come. He was no longer the reject, but was being recognized for who he was and what he knew. He knew the Almighty and he knew how to win a battle. What confidence he must have felt! Then he makes a promise to God. He tells him that if the Lord gives him victory, then whatever comes out of his house first to greet him will be offered to the Lord as a sacrifice. (I am almost certain that Jephthah had in mind the family cat when he made this promise.) The Lord gives him victory and upon returning home it is Jephthah’s daughter who first leaves the house to greet him!
His heart sank. His breath became thick and difficult. What had he done? The confidence that once moved him forward had left him. He was convinced this was a good trade. And now he realizes his confidence was misplaced. He wasn’t trusting God. He was trusting his own ability to make a good deal.
This tragic story from Scripture reminds us all where to place our confidence. It is more important to trust God’s word than our own. It is more important to communicate how right God is than how right we are. Today, take a moment and meditate on the rightness of God rather than your own.
Lord, let my thoughts be your thoughts so that I may live in the confidence you created. Amen.
Rev. Christopher Hall
Extended Scripture: Judges 11–13
