An Impulsive Deal with God

And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” Judges 11:30-31

In my addiction, I tried to make many deals with God, none of them from a healthy place. Every deal I tried to strike with God involved some future promise on my part in an attempt to curry favor so that he’d get me out of trouble. I’d use drugs, feel remorseful, and then worry about everyone finding out. So, I’d go to God, begging him to protect me from discovery, promising that I’d never use drugs again. A few days would go by, nothing would happen, and I’d breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks God. Then I’d go right back to using drugs.

When others did eventually find out and my life exploded, I tried to make my biggest deal yet. God, if you get me out of this, I’ll go to Africa to be a missionary. It sounds absurd now – the last thing Africa needed was an addicted physician – but at the time, I was serious. God though, knew I had no intention of following through and he had no desire to make such a deal. My attempted bargain with God wasn’t an act of faith, but rather was born out of my lack of faith.

Impulsive deals with God are not part of an authentic faith. That’s the lesson of today’s passage. In the story, Jephthah was tasked by God to lead the Israelites in battle against the Ammonites. We’re told Jephthah was a mighty warrior and that God’s spirit was with him. Still, Jephthah doubted God. So, in his fear and faithlessness, he went to God and made a deal that he would sacrifice whatever came out of his house first when he came home from battle. Jephthah returned home victorious and, like a Shakespearean tragedy, it was his only child who first came out to greet him. Distraught, Jephthah tried to lay the blame at his daughter’s feet. Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me (Judges 11:35). But this wasn’t his daughter’s fault or God’s fault. Neither of them wanted this deal. This deal was born solely out of Jephthah’s lack of faith. He thought he needed to promise God something grand to get what wanted. Instead, he should have simply obeyed God and left the results up to him.

In my addiction, authentic faith didn’t involve making rash promises to God. Rather, faith meant doing whatever it took to abandon my drug use to follow him. I didn’t have to make some fantastic future promise to earn favor. I simply needed to start following him. That is faith. Doing whatever it takes to abandon my way for God’s, right now.