And
what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered
kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths
of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from
weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to
flight. Hebrews 11:32-34 NASB
We all know the super heroes of childhood;
Batman, Superman, Ironman, etc. Who is
your hero? Who do you look up to and
admire more than any other person? The
bible is full of true heroes, Heroes of faith.
Oddly, the Scriptures declare that these heroes were made
strong out of weakness. It seems that in order to be a real success, you must be
able to be strengthened through struggle. We can identify with that kind of
hero. We need heroes who can, as these
men did, report back to the world that they escaped a difficult situation. They
may have felt weak or may have cried and suffered, but they still made it. Look at these men mentioned in Hebrews 11:32. Examine their lives. They were not glaring examples of flawless
character; yet they epitomized faith toward God. Even though most of them experienced failures
and flaws, they would have made the front pages of the newspapers in our day
for their heroism. We must be careful
when judging the weak moments in their lives to consider them against the
entirety of their lives and see that the dent in their armor didn't affect
their performance on the battlefield.
Gideon failed the biblical faith test when he sought a sign.
Samson shined on the battlefield but had struggles in the bedroom. This anointed judge of Israel wrestled with
more than a failed marriage that he could not seem to regain. He had an insatiable appetite for strange
flesh, which led to his demise, yet he still made it to the list of the few,
the proud, and the brave. Oh yes, then
there is Jephthah, the illegitimate child who was rejected by his siblings and
ostracized by his family. He went to the
land of Tob where he became what we would call a gang leader. He gathered together the "vain"
fellows, a sampling of social rejects, and became their leader. In spite of his adolescent struggles, and his
rash tendency to make wild vows (which cost him the destruction of his
daughter's future), he still made it to the roll of the renowned. He made it because he believed God. He lifted himself above his circumstances and
fought the enemies without and within!
CHOSEN BY REJECTION
To me, Jephthah's gang reveals the part of ministry I think
we are missing. He built an army out of
rejects. There is something powerful
about being a "chosen reject"; chosen by God but rejected by men. There is a focus that evolves in the heart of
someone who has been rejected by men. Their
rejection creates a feeling of misplacement.
Have you ever felt misplaced? Have you ever struggled to fit
into some group where it seemed you were not welcome? When we have been ostracized by someone or
something that we wanted to belong to, our streaming tears cannot soften the
hard truth. Rejection tastes like bile
in our gut. However, the experience can
make us bitter, or it can make us better.
Once the reality hits us that God purposely chooses to use
misplaced and rejected people then, first and foremost, we experience a sense
of warm gratitude that flows through our hearts like hot syrup. It fills every crack and crevice of our minds that
suggested there was no place of meaning for us.
Human rejection cannot hold down the body of someone who has
been chosen! If no one else embraces
these bleeding, Purple Heart soldiers, perhaps they should rally together and
find comfort in the commonality of their mutual experience. Thank God for
Jephthah, who reminds us of the deep, abiding reality that even if we were
thrown into a refuse receptacle by closed minds who decided that our dry bones
couldn't live again, God is still in the business of recycling human
lives! Isn't that the gospel? Isn't that the good news we are supposed to
preach to the poor souls of broken men? May we receive all of those God has redeemed
as vessels of service in our churches.
This week our youth choir, Breaking
Free is on a mission trip to Albuquerque, NM.
Each day we will tell you where they are and what they are doing and ask
that you please pray for them and for God’s work to be accomplished through
them. This week they are helping with
VBS and participating in community outreach.
They will be performing concerts at the Albuquerque Rescue Mission, Joy
Junction, BRBC, and Crestview Youth this week.
Scripture to Claim:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
