1 00:00:02,670 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Life Audio Hello. Thank you for listening to your daily 2 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: Bible verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and His will for us. 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,290 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word 5 00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:31,350 Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible verse, Judges 11, 7. 6 00:00:40,930 --> 00:00:45,409 Speaker 1: Today's Bible verse is Judges 11, 7. Jephthah said to them, 7 00:00:45,830 --> 00:00:48,950 Speaker 1: didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? 8 00:00:49,710 --> 00:00:52,090 Speaker 1: Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble? 9 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,500 Speaker 1: For years, I lived disconnected from my biological family and 10 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,750 Speaker 1: assumed I always would. Initially, this stemmed from my growing 11 00:01:00,850 --> 00:01:04,390 Speaker 1: realization regarding certain dysfunctional patterns no one else seemed to 12 00:01:04,470 --> 00:01:09,220 Speaker 1: recognize or care to acknowledge. One day, I expressed my concerns, 13 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: hoping to bring about the change I needed to maintain 14 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: relational connections. Instead, I received rejection. Granted, I did not 15 00:01:18,700 --> 00:01:22,470 Speaker 1: share my concerns in the healthiest or kindest way, although 16 00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:25,150 Speaker 1: at the time I didn't understand that or how things 17 00:01:25,209 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: played out after. Put simply, I was deeply hurt and 18 00:01:29,340 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: assumed things would never change. Over a decade later, however, 19 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,539 Speaker 1: the Lord began to work in some surprising ways that 20 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: have allowed me to rebuild my relationship with two of 21 00:01:42,300 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: my siblings, both of whom now understand some of the 22 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: unhealthy dynamics that previously made family encounters feel so unsafe 23 00:01:52,410 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: for all of us. I now can see how the Lord, 24 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 1: in his grace, is actively working to make all things 25 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,810 Speaker 1: right and to undo the damage generational sin fueled by 26 00:02:04,850 --> 00:02:08,769 Speaker 1: the devil caused each of us. He appeared to do 27 00:02:08,810 --> 00:02:11,450 Speaker 1: the same for Jephthah, a man driven from his home, 28 00:02:11,550 --> 00:02:14,970 Speaker 1: not for anything he'd done, but rather, it seems, for 29 00:02:15,010 --> 00:02:19,500 Speaker 1: who his half-siblings deemed he was. His mom was a prostitute. 30 00:02:20,060 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: a fact often considered scandalous and abhorrent in most cultures, 31 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,980 Speaker 1: but especially in Bible times when people place such emphasis 32 00:02:27,740 --> 00:02:32,780 Speaker 1: on a person's bloodlines and ancestry. Jephthah probably grew up 33 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: feeling worse than an unwelcomed outsider in his own home. 34 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 1: He was probably treated as an inferior, shameful outcast who 35 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: deserved to be shunned, not loved. Plus, reading Jephthah's response 36 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,060 Speaker 1: to the elders of Gilead in verse 7 suggests the 37 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:54,859 Speaker 1: rejection he experienced extended beyond his immediate family to the 38 00:02:54,919 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: entire community. Ouch. Then, once he and his brothers reached adulthood, 39 00:03:01,590 --> 00:03:05,570 Speaker 1: they drove him away from his home and any inheritance 40 00:03:05,630 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: he might otherwise have received. And I wonder, did he 41 00:03:09,780 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: leave destitute, not knowing when, where, or how he'd get 42 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: his needs for food and shelter met? Scripture doesn't say. 43 00:03:17,419 --> 00:03:20,900 Speaker 1: It does tell us, however, what happened next. So Jephthah 44 00:03:20,980 --> 00:03:23,929 Speaker 1: fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, 45 00:03:23,990 --> 00:03:27,389 Speaker 1: where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him. 46 00:03:28,669 --> 00:03:32,669 Speaker 1: This area existed outside of ancient Israel's direct control, where 47 00:03:32,710 --> 00:03:36,350 Speaker 1: he connected with troublemakers, perhaps the only type of people 48 00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:41,710 Speaker 1: he thought might accept him. Yet God has promised to 49 00:03:41,850 --> 00:03:46,050 Speaker 1: one day bring good from the bad things his children endure. 50 00:03:46,930 --> 00:03:49,180 Speaker 1: This is the message I sense the Lord impressing on 51 00:03:49,220 --> 00:03:53,820 Speaker 1: my soul as I read about the events surrounding today's verse. Notice, 52 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,100 Speaker 1: Jephthah didn't beg his brothers to take him back, seek 53 00:03:57,140 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: to defend himself, or try to force or manipulate his 54 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,700 Speaker 1: hold on his inheritance, at least not that we see 55 00:04:04,740 --> 00:04:09,180 Speaker 1: in the text. Those actions, if pursued, might have only 56 00:04:09,220 --> 00:04:13,740 Speaker 1: made things worse. They certainly wouldn't have healed the rejection 57 00:04:13,780 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: wound he suffered. It's of little comfort to receive acceptance 58 00:04:17,779 --> 00:04:21,609 Speaker 1: by those who feel compelled to give it. That's one 59 00:04:21,650 --> 00:04:26,210 Speaker 1: reason I find the events that followed his expulsion so intriguing. 60 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:31,930 Speaker 1: The Lord, as the sovereign being over all history, orchestrated 61 00:04:31,950 --> 00:04:36,210 Speaker 1: a solution Jephthah couldn't have seen coming. One that seemed 62 00:04:36,270 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: to include the very people, responsible for his pain. In 63 00:04:41,460 --> 00:04:44,380 Speaker 1: their time of desperation, they turned to the man they spurned, 64 00:04:44,870 --> 00:04:48,690 Speaker 1: and through their request for help, spoke honor and respect 65 00:04:49,210 --> 00:04:54,169 Speaker 1: to the one they'd previously treated as garbage. Christ, in 66 00:04:54,210 --> 00:04:57,250 Speaker 1: his grace, loves to make things right, to replace ashes 67 00:04:57,450 --> 00:05:01,090 Speaker 1: with beauty and defeat with victory. He'll do the same 68 00:05:01,130 --> 00:05:04,350 Speaker 1: for us. If not this side of glory, then for 69 00:05:04,490 --> 00:05:08,830 Speaker 1: sure once we enter into our eternal home. We belong 70 00:05:08,910 --> 00:05:11,770 Speaker 1: to the God of restoration, known for bringing life to 71 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,620 Speaker 1: what seems dead, hope to our despair, and a family 72 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: of Christ followers worldwide who remain eternally bound by his blood. 73 00:05:22,060 --> 00:05:26,060 Speaker 1: Hold on to that truth the next time your circumstances 74 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:31,779 Speaker 1: feel final and your pain inexhaustible. Remember that today's hardship 75 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: won't be the end of your story. Jesus is. And 76 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,190 Speaker 1: he's promised your final chapter will be good. Better than good. 77 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:52,330 Speaker 1: Gloriously perfect. Let's pray. Holy Father, when we are struggling, 78 00:05:52,390 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: when we are hurting, when we're reeling from the sting 79 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: of rejection, maybe exposure, maybe ostracization, Remind us that you 80 00:06:02,980 --> 00:06:06,340 Speaker 1: are with us, that you see us, you see our 81 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,790 Speaker 1: pain and everything we endure. You have such compassion for 82 00:06:11,990 --> 00:06:15,370 Speaker 1: us and help us to trust that you are at 83 00:06:15,730 --> 00:06:22,789 Speaker 1: every moment working behind the scenes in power, mercy, love, 84 00:06:23,070 --> 00:06:26,890 Speaker 1: and grace. Remind us that you do indeed have good 85 00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:30,590 Speaker 1: planned for us, that you have promised to turn all 86 00:06:30,650 --> 00:06:34,100 Speaker 1: things to good for those who love you and have 87 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,420 Speaker 1: been called according to your purposes. Your purposes are good, 88 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:45,089 Speaker 1: even if they don't feel good in this moment. And Lord, 89 00:06:45,130 --> 00:06:48,150 Speaker 1: thank you for the grace that tells us it's okay 90 00:06:48,529 --> 00:06:50,630 Speaker 1: if we can't grab hold of those truths right now, 91 00:06:50,750 --> 00:06:53,300 Speaker 1: if we are just too deep in our pain, too 92 00:06:53,310 --> 00:06:56,230 Speaker 1: deep in our fear, too deep in our anxiety. So 93 00:06:56,290 --> 00:06:59,710 Speaker 1: when we land in those places, Lord, when we are 94 00:06:59,890 --> 00:07:03,060 Speaker 1: so overwhelmed, we can barely take a breath, let alone 95 00:07:03,130 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: hold on to what is true. Thank you that you 96 00:07:05,900 --> 00:07:08,460 Speaker 1: remain with us, that you hold us, that you are 97 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,900 Speaker 1: carrying us. Whether we feel you carrying us or not, 98 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,370 Speaker 1: we trust that you are. You come close to the brokenhearted. 99 00:07:19,790 --> 00:07:22,550 Speaker 1: We love you. And we praise you. And it is 100 00:07:22,590 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, 101 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:26,860 Speaker 1: that we pray. Amen.