From Thug To Hero ♡♡♡

"Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead's wife bore him sons, and when his wife grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house because you are the son of another woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless and unprincipled  men gathered around Jephthah, and went out [on raids] with him." - Judges 11:1-3

Two posts ago, I wrote about Naaman a mighty man of valor, who had a but in his life named "leprosy". SEE HERE -The lesson there was humility.  Here is the story of another man with a different kind of "but". His name is Jephthah. Scripture says, "The Gileadite was a brave warrior". That sounds exciting right? until you read the next sentence that ensues; - but he was the son of a prostitute" Dang! I mean, it wasn't him, but it was his mum? ok his mum, but kinda also on him, yikes. Jephthah knew what it felt like to be an outcast. He knew what it felt like to be unwanted. To be labeled and to be grouped. His half brothers would treat him so harshly, they won't even want him to partake of thier father's inheritance [I mean, this is my dad too]. "get lost, you don't belong here". He ended up in a place called the land of Tob. What happened in the land of Tob? Jephthah found himself amongst worthless and unprincipled men. He essentially becomes a thug. At least he found himself, a company of people who were willing to be around him. Afterall no man should be an Island. As sad as this story may seem, it is not far fetched from the reality of some people in our world today. How they are where they are.  And why they are where they are. 

                   As they say, it is what it is. Well, not always where God is concerned!!!!

"Now it happened after a while that the Ammonites fought against Israel. When the Ammonites fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader, so that we may fight against the Ammonites." - Judges 11:4-6

I like how scripture says "Now it happened after a while...". I also like how scriptures says "they went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob" - goosebumps! Like, his purpose found him where he was at, even in the middle of his thug life. It didn't also matter how long it had been. Friends, nothing can thwart the purposes of God. It was only a matter of time. Jephthah was labeled, he was grouped, he was essentially the outcast who ended up with a bunch of miscreants [I say that with a lot of tenderness, cause I mean these people were there for him, I imagine]. Jephthah's "buts" didn't matter to God. His brothers rejected him, they would not let him have any part of thier father's inheritance, but he would later be approached by the ELDERS to come rescue them from the hands of the Ammonites. I guess, they were now faced with  a much powerful opponent than they had always faced. Ah, they remembered Jephthah. Only if Jephthah's brother's had seen the future? But that's one of the mysterious things I love about God. He is never to be caught predictable. You see this consistent with his character across scripture. God loves to shock us [in a good way]. And I am always here for it :)

     "I know that you can do all things, and no purpose of yours can be thwarted' - Job 42:2

Indeed, God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He uses the beat down, the outcast, the disqualified. Insert here [all-the-downs-and-the-outs]. He uses them all. A lot of you beat yourself down everyday, disqualify yourself from too many things. Could you possibly imagine, you a solution to the problems in our world, through the help of the Holy Spirit? And just because others don't have eyes to see it just yet, does not mean thier eyes won't be opened to seeing it in the future. The elders went to get Jephthah. God knows what to do, when it is the right time. I know Jephthah had some down moments in his life, but really the focus here was that God never disqualified him. You shouldn't yourself either, no matter what your story has been. 

         A  prayer point | Dear Lord, open the eyes of the elders at the right & perfect time :)

Love

Shay