CARELESS VOW
I give Glory to God for His Grace. He laid it in my heart that the mystery of Heaven may be released unto mankind.
THE CYCLE OF UTTERANCES
Promise <> Pledge <> Vow (oath)
The root cause of our problem is in our utterance. It is a known fact that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. One of my friends once said to me, ' You will know a man when he speaks'. This implies that our speech betrays our physical cum spiritual personality.

The following factors affect what we utter, ironically, these factors have their correspondent offspring :-
FACTOR.                              RESULTANT
Prosperity.                                Ego/ Pride
Pain.                                      Suffering/ agony
Anger.                                   Vengeance/ Revenge
Dilemma.                              Anxiety/ Panic

JEPHTHAH'S CASE
Jephthah was a man banished from people because his mother was a prostitute. Fortune turned around for good and his kinsmen were at his mercy due to an external aggression from the people of Ammon. They agreed to make him their ruler if he agrees to lead them in battle against the children of Ammon. Judges 11 describes Jephthah as a mighty man of valor. Jephthah relied on his instinct and I don't blame him, he came that far all alone.
But, in Judges 11:30-31, Jephthah made a vow unto The Lord, digging deeper into likely reasons why he would make such a vow, the following points emerged:-
*He was trying to impress his people
*He was afraid of loosing his first task as a ruler
*He was desperate and over-ambitious
*He lacked the understanding of how God operates
*He's not operating under an outright covenant, hence, he does not have a direct relationship with God.

Most importantly, "the tap root of our problem lies in the effect of our careless utterances in the past on our future". A lot of us had at some point in our past (even presently) made some deadly mistakes in our pronouncement especially when faced with hardship. When we experience tribulation that is meant to be temporary, we act as if tough times would last.

Jephthah was in a fix, he was going to sacrifice whatever he meets at his door upon a triumphant arrival. Unfortunately, he won the battle, and it was his only child -his daughter that he met. What a fate! Judges 11:34. He cried, he was humbled, troubled, embittered, but because it was a vow, his daughter urged him to fulfill it.
What baffled me the most is that throughout Judges 11, there was not a single word of response from The Lord regarding Jephthah, the Holy Spirit made it clear to me that God was not interested in Jephthah's plight, quest, nor success. He did not have to go to the extreme to achieve so much.(our battle is the Lord's). God never asked anyone for such a sacrifice, none before Abraham, none after Abraham.
Jephthah did not consult God, he thought he could move God by such pronouncement.
What if he had met someone else at his door? Would he have hesitated to fulfill his vow? But God knew the future even when we are in the present, Jephthah tasted the most bitter pill.
BOTTOMLINE,
Christianity is not about impressing God, instead, we are simply 'Grace Beneficiaries' - "As for His Saints, they are Just Men Made Perfect".
Shalom!!!

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