Jephthah's Daughter

Back from DC... the things that I learned are all keepsaked in my journaljournal, and some written in the DC blog for all to read ~ God is faithful...

God said to Jephthah that He would help them defeat their enemies, the Ammonites... yet Jephthah did not trust in God completely, and made a vow to sacrifice whoever came out of his house to meet him after battle IF God saved them. And God saved them indeed. Thus, Jephthah's daughter died... because of her father's lack of faith...

Jephthah's daughter - what was her name? We aren't told, and we may never know (until we meet her in Heaven?) ~ but her faith was amazing too. She replied, without hesitation, that what her father promised to the Lord he must fulfill. I wonder, how old was she? Would I be able to say that? She did not cry out and beg for a change in this, but kept firmly to it... I don't know how much of this was because of her love for the Lord, but dude, how many of us would be able to say, "Yes Lord, take my life if that be Your will..."???

On the way back from DC, I seriously thought the plane was going to crash (as did Liz) - I was freaking out, but I also thought, "Lulu, if you were to die now, or maybe in 20 minutes on this plane, in pain and in flames, would you be joyful anyway? Would you be able to praise God all the way down? Would you be able to give up your plans for the rest of your life, be content to leave the earth as you are?" 

And after much thought... I realized, yes and no. I would be happy to go meet God face to face, I would love it!!! Dude, that'd be awesome, minus all the flames and stuff. No, I wouldn't be so overjoyed in that moment of well, not so happyness. But then, who am I to choose my way out? Who am I to decide to tell God, "Hey Daddyo, can I go in peace in my sleep? You know, bypass all that pain and whatnot?" Jephthah's daughter had no choice... rather, she chose what honored God, which was a promise, however rash and stupid, to the Lord... 

In our case, there may not be a rash "deal" broken out with God. There may not be a battle in which, because we doubt, we make a terrible bargain with God. But, how often do we still do so? How often do we try to test God's faithfulness? Or the limits of His ability? We may not think it straight up in our heads, but we surely think it inside somewhere, even beyond the reaches of our own understanding...

But God says, "Come to me...", those who are weary, of life, of themselves, of the world. "Come to me... and I will give you rest." Rest from our worries, from our lack of faith in Him, from our selfish desires and our prideful selves that drag us down so much... and we don't even know it! Look up and be saved.