#65279;Today’s passage is Judges 11:29-40.
The Spirit comes upon Jephthah and he promises that if the Lord gives him victory over the Ammonites he will sacrifice whatever comes out of his door when he returns home. After his victory, his daughter greets him first. Although grieved, he follows through on his promise, which his daughter agrees with, asking only for two months to spend with her friends to weep.
#65279;
Why does Jephthah make such a promise to the Lord?
Why does his daughter acquiesce?
Because the Spirit came upon Jephthah before he made his vow to the Lord, he must have known what he was doing, must have known what the risk was.
If he’d said “the first thing I see on my return”, then the end would be tragic, but he said “whatever comes out of the door of my house” (31).
People come out of doors, not sheep or goats or bulls.
Jephthah knew that his wife or daughter or a servant would come out.
Jephthah knew he would have to sacrifice a family member as the price of his victory for God and Israel.
#65279;
What do I have to sacrifice as fulfillment of my responsibility?
What do I have to lay down to keep my promise to serve God’s will?
What do I value that I must be willing to give up?
#65279;
A teacher has suddenly come to my attention in a hugely negative way.
I chastised her last year for her excessive friendliness to students, her crossing the line of professional behavior.
Today I received reports from seven different teachers distressed by her unprofessional conduct and her continued presence at the school because she undermines the spirit and the discipline of the school.
This is my fault.
I should have been more aware of it.
By not watching her more carefully, by not being more sensitive to the teachers, I allowed a small problem to grow into a big one.
#65279;
When I came to my school, I promised God to do my best if He would help me find the right teachers and guide me in creating a stronger curriculum with them.
God did his part.
#65279;
When a problem came into my life, I used to say, Oh, no! How can this be solved?
Usually, I tried to run away from the problem or try to give it to someone else.
My focus was always on the problem as a problem.
I fixated on how it could be solved. I couldn’t see it in any other light.
#65279;
Recently, however, I’ve started asking a different question:
Why has God sent me this problem?
What do I need to learn that I have not yet learned?
#65279;
One lesson is that I need to let teachers know that they too have a responsibly for each other’s conduct.
They work in a climate of our collective making.
As much as I want to be aware of everything, I can’t be and I’m not. I need their help.
Pointing out the negative impact of a fellow teacher on students and the school ethos is part of their duty too.
It is my fault for not explaining it to the teachers and for not holding meetings to discuss attitudes and behavior.
#65279;
Another lesson for me is to stop seeing problems as threats but as something to seek God’s understanding about, something to be embraced and accepted as my circumstance.
My problems are the result of my life.
They are God’s calling to a deeper salvation, to learn what I need to repent of.
Problems are God’s lessons in holifying.
Application: to pray about this teacher and her extreme misbehavior and then bring the issue to committee for discussion and action.
#65279;
Lord, let me not be afraid to walk with you into problems. Let me trust you for the strength I need to carry my cross.
