A blessing in disguise

I know if we were asked of people who sacrificed their only children in the Christian realm we would think of two: Abraham who actually did not finally sacrifice Isaac but was given a ram instead by God and God himself, giving his begotten son -Christ Jesus for our ultimate sacrifice.

Thought of another one? If not, please stay longer with me on this.

I know we have severally thought of the church temple as a hospital for sinners; but have we thought it as an ICU for the struggling drunkards, the harlots and even murderers? We are afraid often to think about these 'greater' sins. It’s no wonder when a harlot-like woman comes to church, she is judged by the door gate, getting no opportunity to redeem herself and even be heard off. Nevertheless, do you know the lord came for such? He actually accepted some in his ministry and their service with such flaws and as if that is not enough, his lineage has one of the kind.

That aside, our narrator today is from Gilead, still an Israelite both at birth and at heart.

I am man of mighty valor and an outcast at the same time. Not of any of my wrongdoing I may have done, but people around me, i.e. my support system just decided they no longer needed me amongst them. I have been called all sorts of names and been thrown out of my father’s house when I was no longer useful to them just because of my mother – a harlot. Accepting my fate, I moved on to the land of Tob where I settled down and sired a daughter –one I love so much. After all life has to go on even when it means new beginnings…otherwise you just cannot force yourself where you are not valued or valuable to anyone, even yourself. Can you?

Tragedy strikes when one neighboring kingdom decides to attack and deposes my motherland and there is found none who can stand for my people- none who can match my leadership skills and strength. Not even those who cast me out can stand and lead their own. The elders then decide to bow down and lower their ego to find me- an outcast. ‘They already have some job for me now’ I imagine. What goes around- comes around indeed. Imagine, they are even ready to go by my terms now, not as I had to beg before. however I am not self centered or opportunistic as some of you, Therefore, I do not take advantage of them, rather, I ask them if they are ready to take me back and accept me as their leader if I deliver victory by the lord, and by all humility they say “yes”, the Lord be our witness.

Fortunate for me, I know my roots and got the leadership skills I need for this tough job. So I accept the challenge, go down on my knees for my people and later start the negotiations with my rival king who threatens my people of taking what belongs to them- their land. How can we be displaced and dis possessed on what belongs to us surely- on what our God gave us to possess? I go in peace explaining to this king how we got this land and why the title deed belongs to us. ‘Land disputes gonna kill us I say’. He is adamant and calls for war, after all he is aware that my people have no leader at the moment and so he is advantaged. He forgets it’s not about our leader with us, but our God. Someone got remind him though,- and that someone is…me of course.

I accept his challenge, go back to God in prayer for his leading and make my vow and then, I’m ready to strike with the small army I have prepared. We go out with God and return with victory in our hands. Therefore, the lord has answered my prayers and I need to keep my other side of the bargain as well as the Gileadite elders. The tough one though is my side of bargain. Yea, I mean tough because, I told God whatever would come out of my compound first to welcome me home, a hen, a goat, a sheep… from my victory, shall be his.

As we all know news especially the bad ones move fast but the good ones too travel and so our victory is shared by many with laughter and happiness even before we can break it to the people ourselves. My daughter is one of those who interestingly follow up this developing story of the war by the valley side and gets the victory news among the first people. Out of happiness and appreciation of the glory the Lord has brought back to her family, she runs to meet up her father to congratulate him just as many of us would do. Little does she know the consequence of her good will.

With mixed feelings, the father breaks down. ‘Mixed’ because he is happy the daughter- only daughter mind you, has been thinking of him and is happy for him, but sad because he made a covenant with God, which has to be fulfilled through her. As if reading her father’s mind, she does not let the somber mood linger longer. Rather she okays him and tells him to do as he vowed to God, only to grant her, her one request. That is to let her go to the mountain 2months with her peers and friends, mourn her virginity and then he can go ahead with fulfilling his side of bargain. Justice delayed is not justice denied. He finally fulfills his vow.

Who even does that in our generation today?

We badly need a job or some money. Ask God for it and vow to give him a certain percentage out of the first fruits of what we asked for. When he does come through for us, we are back again at Him telling Him how we can’t fulfill our pledge because something else came up and so

‘You Lord, even know and understand that this cannot work out now because of this emergency. How about next time?’ we say. Unfortunately for many of us, next time never reaches.

Can’t we even ask Him for miscellaneous? Has He refused to give us what we asked for? even so, He sometimes gives us and open doors before we can ask Him to…those and many more blessings we can attest to, but we seem to be excessively greedy for power and money that it has become too much to fulfill our pledges to Him.

Shame on us!

May God help us keep our vows!